It's possible I'm missing something, but I think Starlux Airlines may have just been the most poorly timed airline startup ever, through no fault of their own... Starlux Airlines is an exciting new Taiwanese airline that launched operations in late January, and which I had the chance to review on a flight between Taipei and…
Continue reading: Starlux Airlines: The Most Poorly Timed Startup Ever?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I’m more curious why they even bother to operate 1x daily, as opposed to take a break from the situation....
You’ll never know... 2 months in during tony fernandes reign in airasia, 9/11 happened, now they are the biggest airline in asia!
Poorly timed sounds more like mismanagement. Unfortunate or unlucky might be a better word.
You have to wonder why they don't just shut down for a couple of months until all of the coronavirus hype has died down, which will inevitably happen as summer approaches. I understand that they don't want to do this, but operating 1 empty flight a day seems like burning money to me.
Agreed about feeling bad for Starlux and their employees. None of this is their fault.
Unfortunate or unlucky, rather than poorly timed.
@Stogieguy7 - There are fixed costs which cannot be mitigated by ceasing flights for a while, and some income is better than none. I have no knowledge of their financial situation, but I can easily see where a shutdown could very likely lead to never starting back up again.
The new Virgin cruise-line has bad timing as well.
And a single cruise ship is like $2bn and cant exactly be parked or leased away for awhile
Very unfortunate, but I do feel if anyone could weather through this storm, it would be their CEO.
Skybus (2007-08, great recession) also comes to mind. Also well established airlines are going under (late last year and this year) as well.
James S—have you seen pics of the new Virgin ship? A disaster, even in the best of times!
In a recent interview, the CEO remarked (in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner): "at least we only have 3 planes."
I’m rooting for them. Don’t know if any timing that could be less fortunate - but let’s root for them for being one of the few to work to build a good product.
I’d like to give them a try, but may be some time before i am in the region for work.
From a positive point of view, it was fortunate they only have 3 planes. Assuming they fully own those planes, the loss won't be too great. In fact, due to Airbus reducing capacity, they will have delays in delivering A350 which Starlux doesnt need at the moment.
Both CI and BR are hit hard too. CX has to park 75% of their fleet. So just 3 narrow body plane won't affect them to much. At least, their reputation is still good.
Crazy. I just heard Flybe went bust (thought Virgin Atlantic investment will save them). Hopefully Starlux isn’t going down the same path.
A little known Canadian lo-cost startup, 'Greyhound Air, about 1997....tons of money into branding and operations (leased aircraft), Winnipeg (!) as a hub...shortly after launch the parent transportation company was acquired and new owners shut the operation almost overnight. Much to then-fellow infant WestJet's advantage fa ing an Air Canada/Canadian Airlines duopoly.
They need the one daily flight to continue ironing out wrinkles in their operation in anticipation of the big comeback.
They are in startup, the reduced capacity to one flight still allows them time to get all their systems working and talking to each other properly (not an easy feat). One could even see it as a benefit that there is more time to run-up and test operations with minimal loading.
Also, Chang Kuo-wei has very deep pockets, and does have a sizable grudge against the family who took Evergreen from him after Chang Yung-fa's passing.
No, I don't think this unfortunate event makes it a bad launch, Chang Kuo-wei has built an airline from scratch, which is no mean feat, he will be in an excellent position to continue it's growth when this is over.