BA profits down 91.6%

Anwen · Post by **Anwen** » 07 Nov 2008, 09:48

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7714763.stm

Saw this on the telly and it took me a minute to be sure I hadn't misread the decimal point...

Mitch · Post by **Mitch** » 07 Nov 2008, 10:24

Where ARE they gonna park all those planes??? Is there enough room on the ground to park 'em, once most of the airlines have closed shop?

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 07 Nov 2008, 10:29

Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, said the period would "be remembered as one of the bleakest on record".

Hmmm . . . you really think so?

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » 07 Nov 2008, 10:30

If they cut them into short sections they'll make lovely caravans.

Anwen · Post by **Anwen** » 07 Nov 2008, 10:31

I am mostly hoping they last at least until my daughter has gone to her Dad's for Xmas and arrived home again...

Mitch · Post by **Mitch** » 07 Nov 2008, 10:42

Anwen wrote:I am mostly hoping they last at least until my daughter has gone to her Dad's for Xmas and arrived home again...

Am sure they will last that long Anwen, but won't it be far more relaxing/exciting to do the trip by comfortable steam/sail boat? I personally would LOVE to see day when we can all SLOW DOWN, and do stuff at a more natural pace - like at about walking speed, instead of this totally un-natural 100 times faster than nature ever intended. At the moment we die big time trying to do it - but we do it regardless!!

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 07 Nov 2008, 12:03

Mitch wrote:Where ARE they gonna park all those planes???

So maybe they should build those extra 'runways' after all?

Cabrone · Post by **Cabrone** » 07 Nov 2008, 12:19

emordnilap wrote:So maybe they should build those extra 'runways' after all?

Hopefully it's the final nail in the coffin for this particular misguided policy.

I wonder what we could do with all the soon to be disused runways? Open air markets maybe?

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 07 Nov 2008, 12:28

Cabrone wrote:I wonder what we could do with all the soon to be disused runways? Open air markets maybe?

You could cover them with black winding hosepipes, and use them as big solar collectors to heat new swimming pools built inside the airport buildings.

ecoworrier · Post by **ecoworrier** » 07 Nov 2008, 13:06

A European company has been re fitting plane as hotels.
Could be answer to our "housing problem"*,
community small holdings maybe.

How do BA's profits look over the last 10 years though?
Pretty outrageous I would imagine.

*If you believe the government figures for housing are sustainable.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 07 Nov 2008, 13:29

ecoworrier wrote:How do BA's profits look over the last 10 years though?

£2,816,000,000 net profit in the ten years to 31st March 2008 according to wikipedia.

Diddums.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 07 Nov 2008, 14:48

ecoworrier wrote:A European company has been re fitting plane as hotels.
Could be answer to our "housing problem"*,
community small holdings maybe.

A lot of obsolete railway carriages were converted to houses, and gradually extended over the years. Maybe this is the modern version of it, but I doubt the planners would agree.

waermund · Post by **waermund** » 07 Nov 2008, 15:21

Profits are down by 91.6% - yet BA's shares are up today by 11% (15:00hrs)

How does that work?

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 07 Nov 2008, 17:47

ecoworrier wrote:A European company has been re fitting plane as hotels.
Could be answer to our "housing problem"*,
community small holdings maybe.

They'd be really well insulated too, it's about -50 degC at typical flying altitudes.

ecoworrier · Post by **ecoworrier** » 09 Nov 2008, 00:12

£2,816,000,000 net profit, boo hoo.

Temporary buildings will always get away with planing permission.

Yep great insulation, should be a good investment, when the airline industry goes t*ts up.