Flybe has suffered from weak demand, overcapacity in the market and rail competition, with French ATC industrial action also not helping.
French ATC industrial action will affect every airline in Europe to various extents. If Flybe were to have financial issues, that would not be the reason why. When it comes to weak demand and overcapacity, Flybe needs to operate many of it's flights at the frequency it does otherwise they would not work at all. I would suggest their prices are more of an issue when it comes to weak demand. They are consistently more expensive than their rivals, including the train, which can't be helping matters. It will also be interesting to see how the loss of Loganair as a franchisee affects them. That is bound to affect numbers to the likes of Glasgow and Edinburgh to some extent.
In response to Finger66, Flybe have been in the doldrums for so long that it's hard to see a way out for them. Every few years or so they announce a scaling back of their route network to eliminate the loss makers which will make them financially sound but every single time they have done this, they have then gone and announced some madcap new ideas right in the middle of it that are doomed to failure. Doncaster, Bournemouth, The Aberdeen - Jersey shuttle - it just doesn't make sense. If they are going to strip back their route network to make it more profitable, then they need to do it and leave it for a few years to make sure it works and get themselves on a sound footing before tentatively entering other markets. When it comes to Eastern (apologies for the off topic), they have a similar problem with their ludicrous financial acquisitions (Humberside airport, Air Southwest etc) and uncertainty as to what product they are offering. It is not a case of declining business; more that the airlines involved simply aren't delivering what they need to deliver. BMI went exactly the same way, offering the wrong product to the wrong markets. They have stripped right back, completely reorganised themselves and are now slowly starting to make a success of things again. One feels that Flybe and Eastern need to do the same.
When it comes to LBA specifically, I'd be happy to see them make another fist of things with Southampton, particularly as our finance offices are in Portsmouth, but they have been back and forth on the route so often that I don't believe that they can make a success of it. I'd rather they tried something new but, as they have proven time and time again, they seem completely incapable at the moment of expanding their business in a way that will ensure the future financial viability of the routes. It would be more beneficial to LBA - and, indeed, to Flybe themselves - to have regular, strong performers that expand gradually than uncommitted slot fillers that flit in and out causing passengers to look elsewhere and, perhaps, never come back.
