As lock down and travel advisories continue to be extended all over the world, sectors that fund European governments continue to dive deep into depression and financial turmoil. One such sector, is the Airline industry in total crisis as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.- By Gerald Gekara.
Here is a sample of what is happening in all major airlines of the world.
Virgin Atlantic fires more than 3,000 people including 600 Pilots, with the remaining staff having to accept unpaid leave. Virgin led calls for state aid for airlines two weeks ago as bookings dropped to zero.
Finnair has returned 12 planes and lays off 2,400 people, as it continues to grapple with a huge 100,000 unprocessed refund claims waiting, and it is expecting the processing time for these to be around eight weeks.
Ethiad Airways has cancelled 18 orders for A350, grounding its large capacity Airbus A380s and its Boeing 787 fleets. Etihad Airways said on Saturday it has delayed its plans to resume flights by two weeks, and now plans to re-start passenger operations on May 16 at the earliest.
Emirate on the other hand, has grounded 38 A380s and cancelled all 150 orders for the Boeing 777x, the largest order for the futuristic airplane.
International Airline Group, British Airways’ parent company has abandons the takeover of Air Europa, and will be forced to pay €40 million (aprroximately 4.6 Billion Kenyan shillings) as compensation for abandoning the deal.
Losses running into billions
Currently 60 new aeroplanes manufactured and stored at plane manufacturer, Airbus, lay at the yard awaiting purchase and others suffering order cancellations.
The industry is foreseeing a minimum of 8,000 grounded planes by September. With an average of 5.8 crews per plane (medium and long haul combined), that would make more than 90,000 unemployed pilots worldwide.
Europe’s airlines are expected to lose $76bn (£63bn) in passenger revenues over the course of 2020 because of travel bans combating the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
The air transport industry is on life support and the damage is expected to stretch into 2023, erasing hallmarks of progress made in the robust travel industry.
