ptr120
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,202 
Likes: 1,350
|
Post by ptr120 on Oct 19, 2020 11:31:06 GMT
Just to point out that the BA 747 fleet has been withdrawn and the aircraft have been sent to the scrapyard. Some have already been broken up and almost all of the rest have had engines and other parts removed. Unlikely given that:
- one was seen flying over Boscastle this afternoon
- many are parked up in holding stations around Europe that don't have scrapping facilities (such as NQY)
- BA are selling farewell flights on the 747 bookable until March 21
In addition to this all of the A380's are sat up doing nothing along with a significant number of the crappy old 777's. If it becomes necessary to airfreight things into the country following Brexit, BA would jump at the chance to asist.
Don't just take my word for it, how about the British Airways press release on the matter: mediacentre.britishairways.com/pressrelease/details/86/0/12468And those facilities for the part out and scrap in NQY? www.stsaviationgroup.com/As for those farewell flights you have invented? They don't exist (and for this aircraft, never have). The airline’s jumbo jets are currently grounded at various locations and are now only expected to reach heights of 35,000 feet as they make their final journeys. If any booking systems are still listing a 747 as operating is is simply because the GDS hasn't yet been updated. It is true that there is a fleet of A380 aircraft standing idle, but these have a comparatively small cargo capacity. The use of cargo in the cabin on any aircraft is only being permitted as an interim / temporary measure, and the conversion of a 777 to a freighter would cost multiple millions. Nobody is yet certified to convert an A380 to a cargo configuration and I highly doubt we'll ever see one in that configuration.
|
|
mrk
Posts: 807
Likes: 753
|
Post by mrk on Oct 19, 2020 22:52:40 GMT
The trouble is, we are used to all this scaremongering. In 2016, experts, all the way up to the Chancellor himself, assured us if we voted the wrong way things would be so dire that the London Stock Exchange may have to close the next Monday and mass unemployment was certain to follow. Never happened. Yes, the economy is doing so well since 2016 that Moody downgraded the UK rating twice. First to Aa2 in 2017, and last week to Aa3, mentioning "Negative long-term structural dynamics have been exacerbated by the decision to leave the EU and by the UK's subsequent inability to reach a trade deal with the EU that meaningfully replicates the benefits of EU membership", and interestingly even "the weakening in the UK's institutions and governance".
|
|
adrianc
Member of DD Central
Posts: 9,986
Likes: 5,131
Member is Online
|
Post by adrianc on Oct 20, 2020 6:31:13 GMT
And, of course, what Osborne actually said wasn't that the LSE would close... but that he would hold an emergency budget, cutting public spending and increasing taxes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36534192Apart from the minor detail that Osborne wasn't in a position to do that after the referendum, because he resigned along with Cameron... Public Sector Net Debt (as a % of GDP) did indeed rise immediately following the referendum, despite Hammond attempting some limited tax rises in the March 2017 budget...  |
|
bernythedolt
Member of DD Central
Posts: 2,615
Likes: 2,365
Member is Online
|
Post by bernythedolt on Oct 20, 2020 9:58:36 GMT
|
|
agent69
Member of DD Central
Posts: 6,034
Likes: 4,433
Member is Online
|
Post by agent69 on Oct 20, 2020 10:03:26 GMT
Unlikely given that:
- one was seen flying over Boscastle this afternoon
- many are parked up in holding stations around Europe that don't have scrapping facilities (such as NQY)
- BA are selling farewell flights on the 747 bookable until March 21
In addition to this all of the A380's are sat up doing nothing along with a significant number of the crappy old 777's. If it becomes necessary to airfreight things into the country following Brexit, BA would jump at the chance to asist.
Don't just take my word for it, how about the British Airways press release on the matter: mediacentre.britishairways.com/pressrelease/details/86/0/12468And those facilities for the part out and scrap in NQY? www.stsaviationgroup.com/As for those farewell flights you have invented? They don't exist (and for this aircraft, never have). The airline’s jumbo jets are currently grounded at various locations and are now only expected to reach heights of 35,000 feet as they make their final journeys. If any booking systems are still listing a 747 as operating is is simply because the GDS hasn't yet been updated. It is true that there is a fleet of A380 aircraft standing idle, but these have a comparatively small cargo capacity. The use of cargo in the cabin on any aircraft is only being permitted as an interim / temporary measure, and the conversion of a 777 to a freighter would cost multiple millions. Nobody is yet certified to convert an A380 to a cargo configuration and I highly doubt we'll ever see one in that configuration. Firstly a bit of a confession. I took the BA offer of buying 747 business class seats for £999 as an offer to fly on the 747. It was in fact an offer to buy 747no seats at that price (so no 747 flights in the future). However:
- It will be difficult for any of the remaining planes to get off the ground (let alone acheive 35,000ft) if they have had their engines removed, as suggested in your previous post
- The BA press release give details of the retirement of some of the 747's. Nothing about being broken up
- The STS facility at NQY is for maintenance not breaking up 747's.
I haven't seen any info that would detail BA's plans for the redundant 747 fleet, but you would have thought that trying to sell them on (rather than scrapping) would have been the preferred option.
|
|
registerme
Member of DD Central
Posts: 6,618
Likes: 6,432
|
Post by registerme on Oct 20, 2020 11:13:35 GMT
|
|
mrk
Posts: 807
Likes: 753
|
Post by mrk on Oct 20, 2020 11:25:15 GMT
Not a strong one then. Iain Dale, the presenter, asked Mr Osborne: “If the financial markets do plummet on Friday would you have to consider suspending trading on the FTSE?”The Chancellor responded: “Well look, the Bank of England and the Treasury – Governor Carney and myself – we have of course discussed contingency plans.This bit certainly turned out to be true though. Mr Osborne stressed that in the longer term there was “no plan” for what would happen after Britain left the EU and predicted there would be no answer for “years and years” to come.
|
|
|
|
Post by captainconfident on Oct 20, 2020 11:50:19 GMT
I work in customs clearance of excise goods and what was simple and free under Single Market arrangements has to be paid for under the new UK regime. Instead of HMRC writing the needed software to make customs declarations, the government has left it to private companies to write and sell the software. Quotes for this software are coming at £500 a month for our volume of submissions. With or without some skimpy deal we still have to pay this and of course we have to raise prices to accommodate it.
|
|
bernythedolt
Member of DD Central
Posts: 2,615
Likes: 2,365
Member is Online
|
Post by bernythedolt on Oct 20, 2020 14:27:17 GMT
I work in customs clearance of excise goods and what was simple and free under Single Market arrangements has to be paid for under the new UK regime. Instead of HMRC writing the needed software to make customs declarations, the government has left it to private companies to write and sell the software. Quotes for this software are coming at £500 a month for our volume of submissions. With or without some skimpy deal we still have to pay this and of course we have to raise prices to accommodate it. On the face of it, £500 does sound like small fry when set against the hundreds of £millions every month we've been forking out to belong to the EU. Hopefully when those contributions eventually cease, we can divert some towards the cost of customs declarations?
|
|
bernythedolt
Member of DD Central
Posts: 2,615
Likes: 2,365
Member is Online
|
Post by bernythedolt on Oct 20, 2020 14:50:53 GMT
Not a strong one then. Iain Dale, the presenter, asked Mr Osborne: “If the financial markets do plummet on Friday would you have to consider suspending trading on the FTSE?”The Chancellor responded: “Well look, the Bank of England and the Treasury – Governor Carney and myself – we have of course discussed contingency plans.This bit certainly turned out to be true though. Mr Osborne stressed that in the longer term there was “no plan” for what would happen after Britain left the EU and predicted there would be no answer for “years and years” to come.
Yes, it was a strong hint, especially taken in the context of his further scaremongering at the time... "Osborne repeated warnings made by the London Stock Exchange that there would be 100,000 job losses in the City if Britain votes to Leave."(my underlining). Regarding your second paragraph, judging his predictions for "in the longer term" and "years and years to come" might be a bit premature right now.
|
|
mrk
Posts: 807
Likes: 753
|
Post by mrk on Oct 20, 2020 14:53:09 GMT
I work in customs clearance of excise goods and what was simple and free under Single Market arrangements has to be paid for under the new UK regime. Instead of HMRC writing the needed software to make customs declarations, the government has left it to private companies to write and sell the software. Quotes for this software are coming at £500 a month for our volume of submissions. With or without some skimpy deal we still have to pay this and of course we have to raise prices to accommodate it. On the face of it, £500 does sound like small fry when set against the hundreds of £millions every month we've been forking out to belong to the EU. Hopefully when those contributions eventually cease, we can divert some towards the cost of customs declarations? Of course the cost for an individual business sounds like small fry compared to the total amount payed by the whole country... how can you even make such a comparison? The total cost of the additional red tape is very likely to exceed the EU membership fee.
|
|
|
|
Post by captainconfident on Oct 20, 2020 14:55:19 GMT
You have to understand that "hundreds of million pounds" in the context of the loss of UK exports in services to the EU.
|
|
adrianc
Member of DD Central
Posts: 9,986
Likes: 5,131
Member is Online
|
Post by adrianc on Oct 20, 2020 15:05:30 GMT
I work in customs clearance of excise goods and what was simple and free under Single Market arrangements has to be paid for under the new UK regime. Instead of HMRC writing the needed software to make customs declarations, the government has left it to private companies to write and sell the software. Quotes for this software are coming at £500 a month for our volume of submissions. With or without some skimpy deal we still have to pay this and of course we have to raise prices to accommodate it. On the face of it, £500 does sound like small fry when set against the hundreds of £millions every month we've been forking out to belong to the EU. Hopefully when those contributions eventually cease, we can divert some towards the cost of customs declarations? Because it's already promised to the NHS, remember? And let's put that "hundreds of millions every month" into proportion, in case we've forgotten over the last four years. fullfact.org/europe/our-eu-membership-fee-55-million/The annual net contribution is about £9bn/year. BIIIIG money, right? £750m/mo, £173m/wk. Except in terms of UK government spending, it's about 1%. www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/government_spending.htmlYep, one percent. That's all. In terms of your personal contribution, it's about £2/week. B'sides, if the country is spending the same money that membership cost, but only on trying to mitigate just one small aspect of the costs of no longer being members, then it seems to me that the membership was bloody good value...
|
|
r00lish67
Member of DD Central
Posts: 2,692
Likes: 4,048
|
Post by r00lish67 on Oct 20, 2020 15:08:21 GMT
More on this topic from the Independent: "The results of a member survey published by the Institute of Directors (IoD) after Boris Johnson’s predictably bellicose Friday statement makes it clear that things could get very sticky in the new year, even in the increasingly unlikely event that a deal is secured.
The poll, of 958 respondents, was conducted between 11-20 September. It found that just 12 per cent had in place a customs agent or intermediary to help them deal with the bureaucratic swamp the government has created at Britain’s ports. Just 7 per cent were planning on hiring one, which leaves 81 per cent in danger of drowning."
"As for obtaining the necessary licences/authorisations from EU/European authorities to allow them to operate on the continent? Barely 14 per cent have them. The same number again are planning to obtain them. The remaining 73 per cent? Oh dear"
Strangely though, in my view the tone of this and other articles isn't particularly one of 'up in arms' and more just 'sigh.....' . Whether that's because there's some likely mitigating action, or for fear of looking silly if it's not as bad as all that I really don't know. It's certainly not going to be smooth sailing, but in the short term is the UK headed for logistics catastrophe, or just a month or two without good kiwis? If it's the former as per the chap's tweets in the original post in this thread*, and this is to happen regardless of deal/no-deal, how can there be so little about it in the media? It all doesn't quite add up for me at the moment. * e.g. " People with my freight forwarding background/customs I know are stockpiling food & medicine for what will be an up to 6 months, then stuttering ongoing, logistics 'not quite mad max dystopia' (but damn close enough) chaos" |
|
|
|
Post by dan1 on Oct 20, 2020 15:13:13 GMT
I'm guilt of this myself so I'm a big hypocrite  But... Another Brexit thread descending down the same old route. The divisions are so deep that truth and facts are immaterial to the debate. I can't see these divisions healing for a generation. It feels much worse than the depths Trump has plunged the US into because he'll go in a few months or 4 years and stuff like SCOTUS can be reformed. Edit: *sigh* |
|
But...