Episode 777: GippsAero is Aussie again but some of Bonza’s pax aren’t happy


It’s an auspicious episode given it’s aligned to the mighty Boeing Triple-7 aircraft (the originals, not the -X :) ) but the main news is that the boys are very happy to report that George Morgan, the surviving co-founder of GippsAero, has purchased the company back from Mahindra Aerospace. His plans are to re-activate refurbishments and rebuilds of the GA-8 Airvan fleet with a goal of reviving production. Great news indeed!

Sadly, it’s not so great news for Bonza’s passengers in Darwin who were expecting to fly to the Gold Coast, only to discover that their flight was cancelled at the last minute and, in fact, the commencement of the Darwin to Gold Coast route has been pushed back to January. Fuming passengers report less than stellar responses from Bonza’s only way of getting customer service: via the Bonza app. Is this an indication of general troubles ahead for Bonza? Are they repeating Tiger Airways Australia‘s mistakes of trying to grow too quickly? We sure hope not.

Meanwhile, Virgin Australia are increasing their 737 MAX-8 order up to 14 airframes. Announced on the day their third MAX-8 arrived, VA joins Bonza as the only two domestic operators of the MAX-8 in Australia, as Qantas is planning to replace their 737 fleet with A320s.

Staying with Virgin Australia, they’ve rekindled their relationship with Air New Zealand through a new codeshare agreement that will allow VA pax to cross the Tasman on AirNZ aircraft. This will bring more passengers to AirNZ and give VA frequent flyers the opportunity to earn those all important Status Credits as they cross the ditch. Grant just wants to know where the hell was this agreement five months ago when he was booking his flights to NZ for September and had to fly Qantas.

The boys wrap the episode with Steve possibly offending our Kiwi audience, much to Grant’s dismay. Remember, you can always use IamReallyOffended@Yahoo.com if you want to tell Steve how annoying and/or wrong he was…

GippsAero GA-8 AirVan

GippsAero GA-8 AirVan

This entry was posted in Australia Desk and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.