OnlyFans Co-Founder Walks Away From Luxury A380 Startup — Global Airlines Has Just One Parked Plane

OnlyFans co-founder Tom Stokely has left the board of troubled Airbus A380 transatlantic startup Global Airlines.

Global Airlines had promised a new UK-based long haul Airbus A380 airline, flying initially to New York and Los ANgeles and promising a “golden age of travel” prmeium onboard product. Launch was targeted for spring 2024.

• Daily New York
  
• Four times weekly Los Angeles
  
• Reaching “every continent” with luxury

However, Global Airlines was never going to make it as a scheduled A380 airline. They were going to have to fill the biggest commercial plane in the world with no network, conecting passenger feed, little frequency, without corporate contracts or a frequent flyer customer base. And they’d have to fill it on Wednesdays in winter.

They managed to obtain one used A380 (9H-GLOBL) that was in storage, paint it in their colors, and operate some publicity charter flights operated by someone else – Hi Fly Malta. They had not even applied for a UK Operating Licence and had no Air Operator’s Certificate.

After those flights, the A380 went to storage, ready for heavy maintenance. That’s why the plane was cheap enough for them to buy – it wasn’t worth it to anyone else to do a full maintenance cycle. It’s been grounded for about 10 months, though they blame ‘supply chain’ issues rather than cost or economic model of the business.

• The A380 is not the right aircraft for a startup without customers. The plane can work with high demand (like New York – London!), significant premium demand (New York – London), slot constraints (New York and London). But you need passengers from connecting flights, corporate contracts, and loyalty programs.

• Long haul is hard for a low cost carrier. It’s worked short haul, but very little durable long haul. And a large aircraft only has low unit cost if you can fill it at acceptable yields in both peak and off-peak periods.

• >They were offering a product customers don’t really want. Premium long haul passengers aren’t primarily buying “golden age” marketing, and existing long haul premium products are reasonably good. It’s not clear what Global Airlines was going to do that was actually better. And it was clear what they didn’t offer in their product – a robust schedule, track record of reliability, reaccommodation on later flights, a robust loyalty currency with partners, or even confidence that the airline will exist next month. A one aircraft operation wasn’t going to be reliable.

They got some investor credibility with money from a co-founder and former COO of OnlyFans. The airline’s founder claimed to be a big deal in travel, but as far as I could tell his short-term rental website was mostly vaporware. I had never come across a reader that I could verify had ever booked on that site.

Then in December, Global Airlines showed off a different plane – an Airbus A340 with their branding. Business Insider reported on Hi Fly saying that the aircraft was not owned by Global Airlines, they had “no operational relationship” with them for that aircraft, and the effort was solely for brand-promotion.

It was always clear this wasn’t a credible business model. Now, with a key benefactor even leaving, I wonder whether there will be any money left for more stunts to promote the dream?