Recce

Lessons From the Compass Collapse

It has been often said by wise men, many times in fact, that at truly wise man is one who can learn from the mistakes of others. In the real world of course we all make mistakes. Some of us more than others and it is the truly wise who not only watch carefully what other people do but also learn from their own indiscretions. It is in this vein that hopefully something good can come from the tragic collapse of Australia’s first new entrant airline. And indeed tragic it is.

The demise of Compass immediately destroyed the ambitions and incomes of one thousand hard working (and very loyal) employees. It also sadly means that the 11,192 investors who considered Compass a good thing have also lost their entire investment. That’s the savings of a lot of small ‘mums and dads’ investors in addition to some big names who obviously won’t ever touch aviation again. Also suffering are the dozens of suppliers of services to Compass who will not be paid for goods and services supplied in good faith. For some it could no doubt prove to be a fiscally mortal burden in such recessed times. Then there are the reported 125,000 people who have pre-purchased $38m worth of now useless tickets. (This is assuming that Ferrier Hodgson’s efforts to resurrect the airline are unsuccessful, something that was still in the melting pot as we closed for press) Also a loser is any new entrant who hasn’t already got their capital base firmly established. And from what we have seen that (in reality) means everybody. Going to the marketplace now with a new entrant will be a near impossible task. The investment community would understandably be very wary of the ambitious and often baseless assumptions being touted by new entrants in the effort to raise cash in what is one of the world’s most competitive and fiscally treacherous pursuits-aviation.

This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.

Login

Become a Member

To continue reading the rest of this article, please login.

Username or Email

Password Forgot password?

Keep me signed in on this device.

If you check this box before you log in, you won’t have to log back into the website next time you return, even if you close your browser and come back later.

If you check the box above before you log in, you won’t have to log back into the website next time you return, even if you close your browser and come back later.

---

or

---

Login with a Passkey

To unlock all Australian Aviation magazine content and again unlimited access to our daily news and features, become a member today!
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.

PRINT

$49.95 for 1 year Become a Member

See benefits

• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website

MOST POPULAR

PRINT + DIGITAL

$99.95 for 1 year Become a Member

$179.95 for 2 years Become a Member

See benefits

• Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
• Access to the Australian Aviation app
• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
• Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
• Daily news updates via our email bulletin

DIGITAL

$5.99 Monthly Become a Member

$59.95 Annual Become a Member

See benefits

• Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
• Access to the Australian Aviation app
• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
• Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
• Daily news updates via our email bulletin

View more offers and details