FlyingColours From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 2315 posts, RR: 11 Reply 2, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 3231 times:
Another name bites the dust
Well who won the bet on how long the name would last after the paint job? They lasted longer than I thought it would but I'm sure many of us here already knew it was coming.
Britannia can now join the list of renamed carriers
* Britannia (2004)
* Air 2000 (2004)
* Airtours (2002)
* JMC (2001/02)
* Flying Colours (1999)
* Caledonian (1999)
* Air World (1999)
Ah well,
Phil
FlyingColours
Lifes a train racing towards you, now you can either run away or grab a chair & a beer and watch it come - Phil
DfwRevolution From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 6, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 3206 times:
Whhaaaaaaatttt ?! Not only is Thomson Fly on of the worst names ever, how desperate are they for a rebranding? Try a liverly change before you ditch the name that's served for 2 decades and launched some historic aircraft!
Brettbrett21 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 436 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 3183 times:
Its also a very patriotic name, what the hell is Thomson Fly?
Sad to see another original name killed off in favour of corporate rebranding....not to mention the beautiful livery.
BCAL From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 3384 posts, RR: 18 Reply 9, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 3151 times:
As the BBC News Report says the rebranding is so that Britannia has the same name as the LCC launched by the TUI Group earlier this year. Does that mean that Thomson Fly is not performing well, so that they are forced to merge the charter and LCC into one?
Another great name in British aviation disappears but this was on the cards when Thomson was taken over by the Germans.
Monarch is now the only established British charter carrier still left, using the same name and under the same management as when it was founded.
MOL on SRB's latest attack at BA: "It's like a little Chihuahua barking at a dying Labrador. Nobody cares."
Whitehatter From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 10, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 3122 times:
This was first discussed on here a couple of months ago. Britannia as a brand is dead and buried, and was from the day they started painting those planes light blue.
It's just a case of when this announcement was due to be made. BY insiders have known of this since 2002. The Lunn Poly travel agency chain is also being butchered.
Thomson seat-only charter ops are sold from the linked websites alongside the scheduled 737 operations. This gives them more options. The http://www.britanniadirect.com website has been selling those seats alongside their own for a while now and redirects to a thomsonflights.com page.
Gilesdavies From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 2882 posts, RR: 1 Reply 12, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 3087 times:
I appreciate that BBC is a highly respected news source but I done think that news article is not 100% accurate.
From what I understood they were re-branding the whole Britannia fleet with "Thomson.co.uk" on the side of the aircrafts and will retain the name Britannia in very small writing saying "Operated by Britannia Airways".
I have heard rumours that there main HQ at Luton is under threat and could possiby be relocated to MAN or LGW. Anyone know anything about that?
If this is the case they and are getting rid of the Britannia name then it is extremely sad and writes another airline into the history books. Especially one that pioneered charter flights in the 60's and made flying affordable to the masses. This would also mean the third rebranding exercise in as many years.
Rj111 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 3059 times:
I'll miss Britannia. I've taken many flights on their (formerly) beautiful 757 and 767's back since i was a mere 2-years old. This is just the final blow though, the biggest tragedy came when they lost their livery.
2000first From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 16, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 3051 times:
OMG.... even if they arent completely changing the name to ThomsonFly, and just putting the Thomson.co.uk on the side, it is an awful change!! I just dont understand how any of the companys managers, directors, or whoever makes these decisions, can look at one of the aircraft and say it is an improvement!
The old Britannia scheme could have done with modernisation, but they should have kept the name. I personally hate the dot com colour schemes (except easyjet, as theirs was the first as far as i know).
I also think the same about MyTravel..... what kinda name for an airline is that?lol! i always hear people at the airport talking about it..... it just isnt a good name i dont think, altho its just my humble opinion of course. It just seems so awkward to say, and just doesnt sound as good as Airtours.
I think first choice (air 2000) is the only airline that has improved its colours and name with a re-branding. They seem to be top class charter now, with all their new innovations coming soon!
Udo From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 17, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 3046 times:
I don't understand these bean counting managers just trashing traditional and popular brand names. The British travellers should stand up and protest, reject the name change. Probably it works, look at how Thomas Cook re-introduced Condor.
Sincil From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2004, 45 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 3026 times:
Yes this is very sad, though I suspected the end was nigh. I've flown with Britannia more times than any other airline - at least once a year during the 80's, on their 732's out of EMA, always down to Spain. Fantastic livery, gone for good. Will have to get down to MAN pronto and snap one of the 767s still in the old colours...
I still have my logbook (and the inflight mags advertising it for sale), bought onboard on the way back once, back when all the planes were named after famous explorers and such like....
Balboy From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2000, 142 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 2966 times:
I feel very sad for the loyal employees that are about to lose their jobs. We are proud to work for Britannia and as cabin crew, I should be OK. But I can imagine how much of a wrench it will be for those who are penciled in to go.
I know of one dedicated lady who has worked for 20+ years who no longer has a position within the company.
From a pax point of view, the changes will be welcomed with many more flights, and a refurbished fleet.
The next stage for us to endure is the possibility of our current contract terms and conditions may be changed to a considerably different TFly contract.
Jmc757 From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2000, 1296 posts, RR: 8 Reply 22, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 2699 times:
Very sad to see the name finally go, we all knew it was on the cards, but still sad none the less. Other than Monarch do we have any of the same names in charter as we did 10 years ago?!
One thing confusing me a bit.... will this not create an identity nightmare? You will essentially have 2 airlines operating with the same name, two very different types of airlines. For example ThomsonFly's (CVT - 735's) on board service is very different to that of Britannia's. It doesnt just stop at on-board, the way flights are sold is hugely different. Britannia is a charter airline selling seats to tour operators, even on flight only your contract is with a tour operator not Britannia. These flights can be booked in nearly all travel agents, websites etc.. However ThomsonFly flights are booked directly through one dedicated website, not ATOL bonded etc etc... Interesting to see how they handle this...
VS4ever From United States of America, joined Jun 2004, 113 posts, RR: 3 Reply 23, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 2686 times:
I'm sorry, but it just goes to show how out of tune some management teams are with reality.
Whilst I agree with modernising livery's and stuff (I too am a big fan of BY's colours over the years, the new one SUCKS!, I know it's an attempt to brand all the aircraft across the group with the same livery, but YUCK!
As for changing the name, IMHO us UK people (and this is only my opinion) associate Lunn Poly with booking the deal, Thomson as the operator and Britannina as the airline. Thomson Fly just doesn't sound the same to me.
I like many others have fond memories of Britannia over the years and it is extremely sad to see a classic name being phased out.
I hope TUI don't shoot themselves in the foot with this one, because it will be the biggest mistake they ever made.
Good luck to all those who maybe losing their jobs as a result of the changes, I hope you find a new position fast.
Flying Colours,
You missed Orion Airways off your list, because they merged into????
FlyingColours From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 2315 posts, RR: 11 Reply 24, posted (8 years 7 months 3 weeks 3 days 18 hours ago) and read 2643 times:
Indeed I did miss Orion off my list but I@ was just highlighting the few recent ones otherwise I could have added British Airtours, CAL Air? and perhaps even Peach Air and Dan Air.
I think they are shooting themselves somewhere other than their foot with this one, as many people know Britannia. The parent company is already making losses and this move is supposed to prevent it?
Phil
FlyingColours
Lifes a train racing towards you, now you can either run away or grab a chair & a beer and watch it come - Phil
25 Richardw: I feel TUI Airways or TuiJet is not too far off. Will HLX get rebranded soon?
26 Gnomon: The British charter/IT sector has got to be the fastest-changing market of this industry. I'm shocked at how often names/liveries/brands change.
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