Airlines should maximise income now instead of being satisfied with minimising cash burn

All airlines should should take charge of their own destiny now and do their utmost to maximise income now instead of hibernating the pandemic and hope for better times.

Arilines have massive set costs in the form of either massive leases or fleets of owned assets that rots fast without regular maintence and use. Always remember airline seats spoils as fast as soft fruit. Todays potential income can't be earned in tomorrow instead. And if you can't fly people there is plenty of other stuff that needs transporting. 

A christmas present sent from Irleand to Norway in mid November arrived yesterday the 24'th of February. That is over 3 months in the post. Another one sent the same day from Ireland to Greece came back today after the airline contunously refusing to freight it. That is a complete let down by most airlines of their previous commitments to bring post around contributing to a worldwide organized and fast postal service.

Every time I bing Cargo up in diverse forums I hear again and again from passenger airline insiders that there is no point in going for dedicated freight flights because there is plenty of dedicated freight companies for that. It just isn't the truth. An additional full cargo conversion with a pallet door and strengthened floor can take up to a year. If they started that a couple of months into the pandemic, when they saw it might last, the plane would only come on stream this comming summer. 

Some airlines like Vigin Atlantic that couldn't depend fully on government or owner handouts have successfully picked up the mantle. They need income no matter what. Others like SAS have not been keen seeing their cargo income in Europe go up but this is negated by that their much larger Intercontinental cargo has halved. And some like Norwegian completely negative and prefering to hibernate and we all know where that brought them, the equivalent of Chapter 11 and a guaranteed loss alltogether of their intercontinental services.

But no one have taken the concept of cargo in the cabin of passenger planes fully out and utilized a cargo container that can fit through the passenger door. Its not rocket science, just an aluminium box on wheels, like an enlarged catering cart. And transporting and lifting equipment for those already exists on every airport around the world.

The willingness to temporarily adjust the passenger service to a pandemicly nervous public have also been long waiting i the European market. No airline here have offered even the option of social onboard distancing throught the middle seat free. If cost is the problem price it at 50% extra and see how many takes it up. It's not like the planes are so full, and no additional planes can be found, that it can't be physically done.

There is massive potential for creating income also in a pandemic from transporting the stuff that was being flown before. In addition comes all the additional pure pandmic related stuff like ppe and earlier ventilators. The airline industry was alwasy so volatile with frequents downs as well as ups that only a constant looser airline think they can only operate in normal to good times. There is money to be made in all types of markets for flexible fast adjusters that see possibilities instead of always waiting for a better opportunity.