In the past eighteen months , little red has delivered for consumers leading the way on customer service and rapid performance at Heathrow .Flying over millions of passengers between London ,Scotland and Manchester , little red offers convenient onward connections to the rest of virgin Atlantic's worldwide network .
Booking grew steadily for the service in the first part of 2014 with the airline enjoying customer feedback. However the demand has been predominantly in direct point-to -point customers rather than connecting traffic . High level of connection onto Virgin Atlantic's long haul network have always been important to the success of little red .
The Chief Executive Craig Kreeger has committed to returning Virgin Atlantic to profit by the end of this year and the airline is on track to deliver that , however Little Red ha s not been able to make a positive contribution to Virgin Atlantic's network .
Virgin Atlantic Craig Kreeger said in his statement :
“Little Red came about through an enduring passion at Virgin Atlantic to make a difference for our customers. We really wanted it to be a success and everyone involved worked extremely hard and gave it their best efforts.
“It was always a huge challenge on behalf of the consumer, as the totally inadequate number of slots made available by the European Commission did not deliver close to BA’s network position, even when supplemented by our own slots to fly between Heathrow and Manchester. The time lag between the takeover of bmi and our entering the market also meant Little Red initially faced an uphill battle to win recognition and convert customers to its services.
“While this challenged environment meant Little Red ultimately did not deliver the results we had hoped, this certainly will not dampen our enthusiasm to try new things in the future. We have always fought for what we believe is best for our customers and we will continue to do so.
“We’re very grateful for all of the support and goodwill shown to Little Red in Scotland and Manchester, where we received a warm welcome. I would also like to personally thank the Little Red team, including the cabin crew who have been fantastic ambassadors providing exceptionally high levels of customer service. We are working to offer them roles on our long haul operation when these services end.”
The President Of Virgin Atlantic , Sir Richard Branson , said :
"When the competition authorities allowed British Airways to take over British Midland and all of its slots, we feared there was little we could do to challenge BA’s huge domestic and European network built through decades of dominance.
“To remedy this, we were offered a meager package of slots on a short-term basis and decided to lease a couple of planes and give it our best shot. The odds were stacked against us and sadly we just couldn't attract enough corporate business on these routes. We will stop flying the Little Red services between Manchester and London at the end of March 2015 and the Aberdeen and Edinburgh services at the end of September 2015.
“The team did their absolute best to make a go of it and I thank them all for their amazing efforts. In the meantime, keep flying on Little Red where you'll continue to get amazing offers and great service.”
Source and image: Virgin Atlantic
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