Impact of coronavirus on aviation industry.

[Capetonian]

SA Express grounded.

SA Express said it would suspend operations from Wednesday, due in part to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Customers will be accommodated on alternative flights and "non-critical" staff will be placed on compulsory leave, the airline said in a statement issued late on Tuesday night.

"In light of adverse recent developments including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, SA Express announces that it will suspend operations from 18 March 2020 until further notice," the statement read.

SA Express is a state-owned, regional airline operates domestic routes as well as to regions such as Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and the DRC.

SA Express was placed under business rescue by order of the courts in early February, Fin24 previousy reported.

[Woody]

Everyone at BA is getting extremely pissed off with the management’s complete inability to make any decision on our short term future, no communication for over a week now

[G-CPTN]

For years I worked for a (non-aviation) company that for several years failed to turn a profit.
I frequently stated that 'we' would be better off ceasing manufacturing and investing the money in a savings bank (in the days when decent interest rates were available).
Eventually the penny dropped and that company is no more.

[ian16th]

For years I worked for a (non-aviation) company that for several years failed to turn a profit.
I frequently stated that 'we' would be better off ceasing manufacturing and investing the money in a savings bank (in the days when decent interest rates were available).
Eventually the penny dropped and that company is no more.

Isn't this what Mrs Thatcher decided all those years ago?

[Woody]

Latest update from Lufty

https://www.ifn.news/posts/lufthansa-gr ... -aircraft/

[Woody]

Good to see Iranair are still flying into LHR

[G-CPTN]

One person in Iran dies of coronavirus every ten minutes, health official reveals and some 50 people become infected with the virus every hour.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Other than banks and insurers, it’s hard to imagine a sector less deserving of sympathy and understanding than the airlines.

Given the way they’ve been carrying on, they may ultimately eclipse even those two.

Let’s get started with easyJet. The low-cost carrier is to pump more than £174m out of its coffers in the form of dividends to its shareholders.

The huge payment will be made just a few short days after the airline’s CEO Johan Lundgren said this: “It is clear that coordinated government backing will be required to ensure the industry survives and is able to continue to operate when the crisis is over.”

So, let me get this right: what the airline is saying here is we want you, the taxpayer, to help us so we can help our shareholders and keep them comfy through the course of the Covid-19 crisis.

The ‘moral hazard’ of bailing out airlines

[Woody]

BA moving remaining flights from T3 to T5 starting 29th March!

[Ibbie]

Manchester Airport is closing Terminals 2 and 3. All flights will use Terminal 1.

Jet2 are suspending all flights until May and easyJet are suspending all but a few internal UK services.

[Karearea]

With Air New Zealand planning [to] stop their service to Los Angeles from London Heathrow in September this year, the virus has likely forced yet another airline to bring-forward its plans.
This film captures the final departure of NZ1 from LHR,...

Runs 2:18

[Capetonian]

Very moving.
I've always wanted to travel to the land of the Long White Cloud on ANZ. I hope they'll still be around when the time comes for me to be able to do it.

[PHXPhlyer]

Emirates Group suspends passenger flights and cuts staff salaries

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/22/intl_bus ... index.html

Emirates Group suspends passenger flights and cuts staff salaries amid coronavirus outbreak
Clare Duffy
By Clare Duffy, CNN Business

The Dubai-based airline plans to halt passenger services as of March 25, it said in a statement Sunday. Emirates is also taking a number of other cost-cutting measures, including reducing operations at its air services division, Dnata, and a temporary cut to most employees' basic salaries.
The announcement comes as airlines around the world grapple with a massive loss of business as demand for air travel dries up amid the coronavirus outbreak. Around the world, coronavirus cases have topped 300,000, nearly 13,000 people have died and many countries and local jurisdictions have implemented travel restrictions to stop the spread.
US airlines say they have seen a "virtual shutdown" in air domestic travel, and some wonder if federal officials will ground many or all domestic flights. The US airline industry is seeking about $50 billion in federal help to deal with the crisis.
"The world has literally gone into quarantine due to the COVID-19 outbreak," Emirates Group chairman and CEO HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in the statement. "As a global network airline, we find ourselves in a situation where we cannot viably operate passenger services until countries re-open their borders, and travel confidence returns."
United Airlines poised to slash payroll costs without quick bailout
United Airlines poised to slash payroll costs without quick bailout
Emirates will continue to operate its international air cargo network to transport "essential goods including medical supplies" around the world.
The company said it is taking steps to protect the health of employees who have to continue coming to work, including enhanced cleaning at its facilities and on its planes, temperature screening at office entry points and providing hand sanitizers and masks to some frontline employees.
In order to further manage costs, the President of Emirates Tim Clark and President of Dnata Gary Chapman plan to take a 100% basic salary cut for three months.
Emirates also plans to cut most employees' basic salaries by 25% to 50% for three months, in what the company said is a move to avoid having to lay off staff. Employees will still receive "other allowances" during this time, and junior level employees will be exempt from the salary reduction.
"Rather than ask employees to leave the business, we chose to implement a temporary basic salary cut as we want to protect our workforce and keep our talented and skilled people, as much as possible," Sheikh Ahmed said. "We want to avoid cutting jobs. When demand picks up again, we also want to be able to quickly ramp up and resume services for our customers."

PP

[Capetonian]

In order to further manage costs, the President of Emirates Tim Clark and President of Dnata Gary Chapman plan to take a 100% basic salary cut for three months.

It won't leave them on the breadline, but it's a better gesture than that despicable fat Spanish pig at BA who is refusing to take a pay cut himself, whilst forcing cuts on his staff. Even his boss is taking a 20% cut.

[Woody]

It won't leave them on the breadline, but it's a better gesture than that despicable fat Spanish pig at BA who is refusing to take a pay cut himself, whilst forcing cuts on his staff.

Nobody has heard from him since his disastrous video to us mere mortals.

A sad departure from Saturday NZ1

[Undried Plum]

I had been due to fly to Vienna tomorrow. I had booked two nights in Wiener Neustadt and planned to spend a day at the Diamond factory, with a demo flight in the DA-62. Planned to take my chequebook in case the type is as good as it looks on paper and in videos.

Postponed indefinitely.

[PHXPhlyer]

Bummer UP.
Looks like a spiffy little air machine.

PP

[Capetonian]

In fact, until that fat Spanish pig leaves BA, they are on my no-fly list. Even when, as they often are, they are the cheapest business class fares to/from ZA. There's always had to be a big difference for me to fly them as opposed to better airlines, but now they're on my shitlist, good and proper.
Their refunds policy on flights that they have cancelled also stinks, devious and underhand.

[Undried Plum]

Bummer UP.
Looks like a spiffy little air machine.

PP

It seems to me to be an absolute cracker of a heavier than air flying machine.

Runs on Jet-A1, so fuel is pretty cheap.

It seems to be Tesla-like in its avionics. A computer with wings, in the same way that my Model S is a computer with wheels.

I'd have been a pushover for the salesmen at Diamond. Though I've never even seen one, I'm already enthralled. My beancounter/IFA approves and has done the spreadsheet thing of working out the costs and tax advantages of such a toy essential business tool wholly and necessarily needed for business purposes.

[Woody]

The DM has found out about the Iranair flights

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... l#comments