Global Airlines: The Airline Story Of 2024 And It’s Only January

I’m calling it right now, Global Airlines is the gift that will keep on giving this year.

If you’ve been flipping channels, it’s starting to feel like that point in the documentary where those involved got ahead of their skis and have doubled down on the very bad ideas which eventually create the “gotcha” Netflix title.

I do hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.

The first 2024 gift from Global has already landed, unlike their flights which were supposed to take off early this year. Those are now pushed back indefinitely. If any flights do take off, they’ll be charter flights to start, but the airline says it still hopes to kick off scheduled passenger services from the UK this year.

I’ve got a fairly damning piece of news for them on that front, which surely they know and anyone following this improbably story really should too?

Startups Yes, Global No…

I’ve gotta start by saying that I love new airlines. As mentioned when I first covered this bizarre story, I believe that free market competition and innovation is the only way we as passengers benefit to max effect with air travel.

Big airlines need to be challenged and when they are we often win, but this is not it. In recent years we saw upstarts like Norwegian champion “low cost, long haul” and really shift the price point in economy down on routes they serve.

Sure, it hasn’t been all that viable on the financial side, but there have been green shoots and very steady hands at work.

On the other end of the spectrum, Global is an airline that focused on an Amex “partnership” which turned out just to be that they would accept Amex if they ever sold tickets — and a bubbly announcement of a Laurent Perrier drinks “partnership” where the airline would serve real champagne in economy “if they could make the economics work” for them.

I could very easily announce a potential Rolex partnership, where I’ll give all readers a Rolex, if we can make the economics work for us. We’ll see where that goes! I got news, LP, you may want to hold the shipping on those cases. Anyway, back to the real stuff that matters.

The 18 Month Problem For Global

I mention this stuff, because they are the easy part of what those in the business call the airline “soft product” bits. These are things like pillows, which can easily be added and removed at will.

The hard part is the safety and licensing from aviation governing bodies, the long lead time in procurement of seats, seat back TV screens and other factors.

“Our intention is to commence with charter flights later in 2024 with scheduled services from the UK following that. We expect to operate our first round of passenger services in the next 12 months. However, we, like many other companies in aviation, have encountered some delays with our partners and multiple supply chain issues which we continue to work around and find solutions to.”

Global Airlines

Let’s be clear, supply chain issues is a laughable excuse in 2024 when you already have your planes delivered. It’s fair airlines who were waiting for Boeing 737-MAX10’s, but I when you’ve already got the planes and the “partnerships”, what’s the hold up?

UK CAA Says 6 To 18 Months At A Minimum To Get Licensed

The UK’s CAA is the governing body of aviation safety, licensing and most things that involve flying. To do any of the things it boasted about doing, Global Airlines will need an air operator certificate and license from the CAA. Rigorous safety checks and myriad business validity checks are a part of this.

In a matter of pure coincidence, sometime along the time of Global’s most boastful passenger service claims in the UK, the CAA updated their website with enhanced guidance on the process for obtaining these vital licenses and certificates.

On the process of getting a license, The CAA website states, verbatim…

While we seek to make a decision as soon as possible, our ability to do so depends on the complexity and scale of the proposed operation, as well as the timely provision of complete and accurate assessment information. The actual process could take anywhere from six to 18 months or even more for complex operations that all depend upon the applicant’s preparations.

UK Civil Aviation Authority

So yeah — if you’re an extreme optimist, you could say that a 2024 passenger flight from the UK is possible for Global Airlines. A best case of six months is theoretically possible, if you believe in miracles.

To GSTP’s understanding of the matter though; based on attempts to confirm whether an application has been filed directly from Global, and from sources intimately familiar with the licensing matter, no application has been filed to date.

In other words, it’s about to be February and it’s deemed virtually impossible by the governing body itself to get certified in under 6 months, and really, 18 months, or more is a distinct possible. For a brand new, totally inexperienced startup running on funds that are dubious at best, it really feels like 18 months is the real answer.

It was one thing when JetBlue launched in the UK, given their decades in service and a huge US presence with international services, plus experienced leadership team with even more decades liaising with international aviation bodies. Global is… not that.

The simplest question to ask is: if Global is real, why has it put off the one thing it truly needs to fly (a license) for multiple years now? Why the multi-year delay?

Innovation, Yes — Global, No

No one likes a bully and I’m not trying to be one here.

I just happen to know too much about the ludicrous, entirely dubious businesses which preceded Global and a bit of personal interaction with the “founder” who is entirely unqualified to manage a Starbucks let alone a “global” airline.

Even the social media accounts have been confirmed to be purchases of pre existing accounts with lots of followers to feign notoriety or legitimacy for the brand. I couldn’t help in my initial post but wonder how Global in under a year, with no actual flights, had more followers than Virgin Atlantic.

It’s not as if Virgin is quiet on the socials, am I right? The old “believe half of what you see and none of what you hear” is an apt adage for this story.

I’m not picking on well intentioned people who are finding startup reality colder than the feel good movies make it seem. Making a difference or innovation in the world of aviation is more difficult than many think and I applaud real dreamers. Startups are the best thing for air travel and help push vital boundaries to greatness.

Every startup that launches with honesty and integrity and a mission to improve travel should be celebrated even if they don’t get there. In this case, it’s not what we’ve got and everything down to the OG business plan, which included “gamer class” and math which children would be ashamed of have been debunked.

Global have never been serious actors and the founders has demonstrably faked almost everything in their “professional” careers and I can only hypothesize they’ve more than likely crossed legal lines in multiple jurisdictions to reach this point. That is why this is the story that will keep on giving.

There’s a lot of transparency and show me what’s under the kimono that happens in the licensing processes ahead. It already seems like Global is trying to shy away from these by focusing on charter services using someone else’s air operator certificates.

I’d love to see finances from Holiday Swap brought under a microscope for sure. A simple look at web traffic shows virtually none, despite boastful claims of millions of users eclipsing the largest other names in the industry. Numerous reports suggest virtually all listings don’t actually exist.

Many additional claims have (since the time of publish) made the comment section below.

Airlines Aren’t Perfect But They’re Not Dumb

As someone who works in the business, I can tell you that airlines are nowhere near as dumb as people who have sub-optimal experiences and suddenly think they can “fix it” may think.

There’s a reason airlines fly one plane to one destination and another to another, and why most airlines do not serve Champagne in economy. There’s deep analysis done to add reason behind virtually every change and move.

Do people get it wrong? Totally. Is there room for an airline startup to completely re-think air transport? Absolutely. I urge people to challenge themselves to think how they would change things!

Again, this Global thing is not that. This is basically lets do the same thing but make it buzzier. But then once we get into it, let’s not make it buzzy if we will actually launch?

A “gamer” class from the original biz plan is already quashed. Champagne in economy, much the same. How do you create a “gamechanger” business class seat better than ANA or Qatar Airways? Great Q! How do you fill an A380, a gas guzzling four engine plane in the off-season, when even the largest airlines with the best marketing reach and co-branded credit cards to fill seats through loyalty and stickiness can’t?

Answer that and maybe you can get someone to fund your airline startup.

Change is slow in the airline industry, but many “bright” ideas have been considered and tested. Many airline groups even have innovation hubs, including Lufthansa Group and IAG. Regular challenges to the way of doing business are encouraged and when they make a point they’re often purchased or incubated for success.

We know Global hasn’t filed for an AOC yet they tell people flights are coming soon. It can’t be one or the other. If no AOC exists, which clearly it won’t for at least 6 more months and likely as long as 18 months, neither does Global.

Sticking a logo on an A380 and using someone else’s crew, seats and pilots does not make an airline. Hi-Fly already flies people and has for a long time.

I promise I won’t gloat when the gullible outlets that so glowingly covered the Global “launch” all start to realize that maybe those of us in this “little corner” of the internet really did know something about the opportunities and challenges in aviation all along.