Years ago, I recall being at Bathurst for the great race. watching a Rex (ok at the time it was Hazelton) Saab fly from the top of the mountain down Conrod Straight to the delight of the crowd. Bathurst airport is packed for race weekend, and this was one of the airports Rex “owned”.
This ownership is changing – as has been reported in the media – Rex is claiming the Qantas is being predatory. Another term for it is competitive. On the back of this Rex is withdrawing from several ports including Bathurst, as well as larger centres such as Lismore and Ballina.
In NSW most of the routes that were previously regulated are now no longer regulated. This is different in Queensland where most of the inland regional ports remain regulated. Rex managed to pick up a slew of these routes, winning the 5 year contracts from QantasLink, commencing services are the start of this calendar year. It is noted Qantas were winding back services on some of the routes, so it makes me question the profitability – appreciating this was in 2021 when we were all remaining close to home.
The company is also undergoing pressure from the pilot association, predominately on job preservation on the back of these withdrawn routes. Lismore was once a pilot “base”.
This is a tough place to play, and the business has many balls in the air:
- Considerations for SaaB fleet replacement
- Newly established jet services now operating on the most competitive trunk routes globally
- Ongoing pilot discussions
- Ongoing load factor pressure
- Competitor pressure (Qantas and subsidiaries))
- New entrants (Bonza- not unique to Rex)
- Escalating fuel costs (not unique to Rex)
The travelling public are becoming fickle and are now familiar with and comfortable to travel on carriers with different tail liveries. The tie up with Delta, channelling all these interline pax to Rex will be critical.
