At 08:39 PM 6/4/2003 +0100, Roger Chung-Wee wrote: >On Wed, 4 Jun 2003 10:06:00 -0400, you wrote: > > >Can anyone explain why British Airways has two "franchises" based in London > >that fly full-sized jets? I'm referring to GB Airways and British > >Mediterranean Airways. Both are described at > >http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bafran/public/en_us amongst listings > >for what in the USA would be regional airlines as well as three airlines > >based in Africa that apparently fly under BA colors. > > > >GB Airways and British Mediterranean Airways seem to have very specific > >mandates, but I can't figure out why those mandates aren't served by the > >main line. Is this at all related to airlines that have separately marked > >planes for flights to Taiwan? > > > >Curious, but not flaming anyone, > >Nick > >The fanchising is done for a simple reason: the franchise carriers are >cheaper than BA .. > >They pretty well lose their identity, have planes and crew in BA >livery, pay BA for marketing and sales. But they all seem to make >money. Were these established carriers, then, that BA set up arrangements with? And are these markets these carriers were already active which BA wasn't itself serving? I'm trying to imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth that would arise if UA or AA set up marketing arrangements with a smaller carrier such as Spirit. Midway had to downsize their fleet to be purely regional jets before US could bond with them. It looks like BA managed to get their unions to sign off on something American unions might not accept. Thanks! Nick