EasyJet grounds entire fleet as coronavirus pushes airlines to brink

[webfact]

EasyJet grounds entire fleet as coronavirus pushes airlines to brink

 

FILE PHOTO: EasyJet planes are seen on the tarmac at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy-en-France following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in France March 24, 2020. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

 

LONDON (Reuters) - British low cost airline easyJet <EZJ.L> said it had grounded its entire fleet of over 330 aircraft and had no visibility on when it could restart flights, highlighting the heavy strain on airlines trying to survive to fly again after coronavirus.

 

EasyJet also said on Monday that it would furlough its 4,000 UK-based cabin crew for two months, meaning they will not work from April 1 but will be paid 80% of their average pay under a government job retention scheme.

 

The health emergency has brought European air travel to a standstill, meaning airlines have no revenues and face a battle to survive.

 

Some UK airlines had been hoping for an airline specific state aid package but Britain told them last week that it will only consider stepping in once they had exhausted all other possible options, such as raising capital from existing investors.

 

EasyJet said on Monday it was focused on short term liquidity, including removing cost from the business and working with suppliers to defer and reduce payments where possible, including on aircraft expenditure, and was in ongoing discussions with liquidity providers.

 

The airline said that grounding its aircraft removed significant cost.

 

"We are working tirelessly to ensure that easyJet continues to be well positioned to overcome the challenges of coronavirus," easyJet's CEO Johan Lundgren said in a statement.

 

Separately, small regional UK carrier Loganair, which flies between Scottish islands and the mainland, said on Monday that it would approach the government for financial help this week, having already tried to ask its owners for help.

 

"I do think, that like the vast majority of UK airlines, we will be going back to take up that invite for further conversation with the Treasury in the coming days because we have to," Loganair CEO Jonathan Hinkles told BBC radio.

 

EasyJet said in its statement it had struck the deal to furlough cabin crew with Unite, the union. Asked about a potential similar deal with its pilots, easyJet said it continued to talk to BALPA, the UK pilots union.

 

Virgin Atlantic has already requested state aid, asking for a package of commercial loans and guarantees worth hundreds of millions of pounds, according to the Financial Times.

 

(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by James Davey)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-30

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[RubbaJohnny]

To relaunch as Stiffjet ? 

Offering peddle tandems for shorthaul

[elliss]

 

The end is nigh , for the chicken in the basket , Jet set . 

 

 

[rct99q]

Am i mistaken in believing Richard Branson still owns a portion of Virgin Atlantic?

Believed net worth 4 billion. I understand the world is topsy turvy right now, but perhaps he could reinvest some of his cash into the airline.

Versus public taxpayers providing money they will never see get paid back.

 

 

[sandyf]

14 minutes ago, rct99q said:

Am i mistaken in believing Richard Branson still owns a portion of Virgin Atlantic?

Believed net worth 4 billion. I understand the world is topsy turvy right now, but perhaps he could reinvest some of his cash into the airline.

Versus public taxpayers providing money they will never see get paid back.

 

 

Quite. Virgin Atlantic's largest shareholder is Delta Airlines with 49% of the shares. The government takes the view that airlines look to investors rather than the UK taxpayer.

 

Loganair is a different kettle of fish, the owners Airline Investments has already seen 2 of it's 3 airlines go bust, BMI Regional and very recently Flybe. In the current crisis there would be a valid case for business support as it has more of a public service role than most airlines.

[Sir Swagman]

It is more than probable the demand for air travel will take a very long time to reach pre-virus levels. Rescuing all airlines, or even large portions of airlines, that are in trouble as a result of the current situation may not ensure their survival anyway. Aircraft sitting on the ground, attracting 100’s of thousands of dollars per month in lease payments with no income generated will bring them undone in fairly short order. They may just join a long list of companies given government bailout or assistance packages only to go under later. 

I hope I am wrong.........

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, rct99q said:

Believed net worth 4 billion. I understand the world is topsy turvy right now, but perhaps he could reinvest some of his cash into the airline.

Rich people virtually never invest their own money, that's how they stay rich...

[evadgib]

New government partnership with airlines to fly back more tourists stranded abroad

 

 

[3NUMBAS]

staff on half pay but for how long ?

[3NUMBAS]

9 hours ago, Sir Swagman said:

It is more than probable the demand for air travel will take a very long time to reach pre-virus levels. Rescuing all airlines, or even large portions of airlines, that are in trouble as a result of the current situation may not ensure their survival anyway. Aircraft sitting on the ground, attracting 100’s of thousands of dollars per month in lease payments with no income generated will bring them undone in fairly short order. They may just join a long list of companies given government bailout or assistance packages only to go under later. 

I hope I am wrong.........

like the 1930s people will only be worriey about food and staying alive

[Stargeezr]

I believe that a lot of the low cost airlines will quietly quit operating, and only a few of them

will exist after a couple more months.  Even the large companies have been asking for

government help.  Guess it is one more thing  that time will tell.

Glad I have no shares in the airline business.

Geezer

[Vigilante]

Big industry names and they have no cash reserves for a year or two?

Oh yeah...charge the tax-payer for a bailout

 

House of cards need to come down asap

Let's go full communism

 

What a clown-show western economies have become..

Size of the real economy say...1$...financial 'instruments' on top of that, 99$

 

Nuke it from deep space.