REX: 737’s back in the air 15 November

REX is hoping to fly its Boeing 737 inter capital services from Monday 15 November, after 4 months of suspension caused by state lockdowns and travel restrictions.

The airline intends to reinstate the Sydney – Melbourne service initially, and then gradually bring back its Melbourne-Adelaide, Melbourne-Gold Coast and Sydney-Gold Coast services as the respective states reach 80% vaccination and open their borders. South Australia is expected to reach 80% double-vaccinated by 2 December with Queensland looking at 15 December to reach the same target.

Shareholders seem to have reacted well to the news (full disclosure, I’m a REX shareholder), with the price heading upwards by about 10¢.

Background

REX launched the services in March 2020, and then was besieged by lockdowns, especially in Victoria. I was scheduled to fly with them on the launch date. Unfortunately, I was heading on to Adelaide, and could not find a flight that took off within the 2-hour window, before I would have been counted as having visited Melbourne, and therefore barred from onward travel to Adelaide. I hope to sample the REX wares sometime soon.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

REX has already challenged the status quo with its very reasonable Business Class airfares, which Virgin has been forced to match. But, they have had a very bumpy ride during this challenging year of COVID-19 lockdowns

I hope to sample the REX wares sometime soon.