Debonair (airline)

Debonair
IATA ICAO Call sign
2G DEB DEBONAIR
Commenced operations19 June 1996
Ceased operations1 October 1999
HubsLondon Luton Airport
Frequent-flyer programDestinations
Fleet size13 (at closure)
Traded asEasdaq component
Headquarters146 Prospect Way, London Luton Airport, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU2 9BA [1]
Key peopleFranco Mancassola (CEO)
Michael Harrington (Deputy CEO)
Silvio Petrassi (General Manager) [2]
Employees480 (at closure)
Websitehttp://www.debonair.co.uk/

Debonair was a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport offering flights to and from Spain, France, Germany and Italy. It ceased operations in October 1999 due to financial difficulties.[3]

History

Debonair was founded in 1996 by Franco Mancassola who had previously worked for Continental Airlines, and founded Discovery Airways in Hawaii.[4] Debonair's first flights took off on June 19, with weekday daily flights to Munich, Mönchengladbach and Barcelona from London Luton Airport.[5] From July, Debonair also added a Madrid route alongside Newcastle and Copenhagen, and later in November a direct London Luton to Rome flight.[6][7]

It floated shares on the Easdaq in September 1997 and raised $41.9m.[8] By mid-1998, the airline was on a heavy cost-cutting strategy which was beginning to slow the losses compared with the year prior.[9] Although at the same time, Debonair sought to introduce special services for its frequent flyer programme including fast track boarding and inclusive meals onboard and on some routes its 'ABC - Affordable Business Class' product.[10][11] Debonair appealed to business travellers, who made up 58 percent of its passengers by 1998.[12] In late 1998, Debonair entered a working relationship with Lufthansa, leasing five aircraft for their CityLine operations from Munich. Whilst the aircraft were in Lufthansa colours, the flights were operated by Debonair staff.[13] Debonair also entered a similar agreement with Swissair who were launching their Express brand to operate a BAE 146 on their behalf from Zurich to Venice and Bologna.[14] Debonair also maintained a codeshare agreement with AB Airlines, which resulted in the lease of a Boeing 737-300 from January 1999 remaining in service until Debonair's operations ended.[15]

On 1 October 1999 the airline's shares were suspended, and the following day the operations of Debonair were grounded following a court ruling to appoint Deloitte as administrators.[16][17][18][19] At the time of closure, the airline had just embarked on a new national advertising campaign, which was pulled from the media at the last minute. However, some advertising made it onto London Underground trains.[20] Following the closure of Debonair, founder Mancassola was critical of British Airways subsidiary Go as a cause for the airlines demise.[21]

Fleet

At the time of closure, the Debonair fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

Debonair fleet[22]
Aircraft In
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
CY Y Total
Boeing 737-300 1 — – 139 139 Named "English Rose".
BAE 146-100 2 — 77 – 77
BAE 146-200 5 — 80 – 80
4 — 82 – 82
1 — – 96 96
Total 13 —

Historical fleet

Debonair historical fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Boeing 737-300 2 1998 1999 Leased from AB Airlines
BAC 1-11 1 1999 1999 Leased from European Aviation
Fokker 50 1 1998 1999 Leased from Denim Air
BAE 146-100 1 1997 1997 Leased from Flightline

See also

References

  1. ^ "IATA Passenger Agency Programme" (PDF). ACCC. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Debonair Airways". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  3. ^ Harper, Keith; Milner, Mark (2 November 2001). "Low-cost is flying high". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Debonair float to raise pounds 25m for expansion". The Independent. 26 June 1997. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Debonair Begins Service From Luton Airport". Aviation Week. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Debonair links". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  7. ^ "THE 'OTHER' LOW-COST AIRLINES". Key Aero. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Debonair debut". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  9. ^ "New-look Debonair narrows its losses". The Independent. 12 August 1998. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Low-Fare Debonair Adds Frills To Build Passenger Loyalty". Aviation Week. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Obituary Franco Mancassola". Business Traveller News. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  12. ^ Lawton, Thomas C (2002). "Learning from the demise of Debonair". Cleared for Take-Off: Structure and Strategy in the Low Fare Airline Business. Routledge. ISBN 978-0754612698.
  13. ^ "Debonair builds on Lufthansa relationship with aircraft deal". Travel Weekly. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Debonair begins services from Zurich to Venice and Bologna". Aviation Weekly. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Debonair extends AB Airlines link with Boeing 737 lease". Flight Global. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Debonair crashes in airline price war". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  17. ^ Hartley-Brewer, Julia (2 October 1999). "Anger as low cost flight firm is bust". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Debonair Airlines' Flop Is an Isolated Incident". WSJ. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Business The Company File Flights business still up in the air". BBC. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Debonair campaign pulled as troubled airline is grounded". Campaign. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Debonair chief blames Go for airline's failure". Travel Weekly. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  22. ^ "Debonair Fleet". Planespotters. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2024.

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