Airlines in a Crisis

How many airline have ben supportive as governments around the world have tried to handle a worldwide pandemic crisis. Today KLM tried to force the retraction of the dutch governments demand of negative tests even for crew by threatening to stop all it's Transcontinental and even european flying that would demand a crew layover to not risk that a crewmember with a postitive test was left behind. A behaviour more akin to O'Leary trying to change tax hikes by dropping all routes from certain airports than a national airline having the word Royal in its name. Even coming with stories how they have to stop trans-shipping vaccines to countries in South America with tremendous Covid19 problems. Apart from the sudden concern over crew, that was lacking before, can't see why KLM couldn't operate flights with double, or treble or quarduple or whatever it takes, sets of crews so no crew leaves the plane or stays over and everybody comes back. To at least bring out the vaccines. M...

We find now a number of airline chiefs actively working against different governments regarding their CoVod19 prevention activities. Some even go so far as stating or encouraging that some rules like quarantines won't be followed. Today O'Leary of Ryanair is reported to have said that people can go ahead and book because the from today UK government policy of mandatory 14 day quarantine on return from abroad will be abandoned. Well we all knows what happens to money paid to Ryanair for travels one after all won't be able to perform. They are very difficult to get back within any sort of reasonable timeframe. Should these chiefs be free to sprout whatever they want with their considerable media power. There is a thin line between expressing ones personal opinion and suggesting that others to break the law. This is not really about free speech but about already wealthy people for personal financial gain encouraging others to behave illegally. Time for some fines or time b...

Airlines will hve to negotiate with insurance companies to come up with a soulution for that most travel insurances have been suspendd for the time being. If a solution could be found for that insurances sold with an airline ticket could have a certain minimum of cover also during these pandemic times, a lot more potential passenger would be reassured that they wouldn't just be abandoned to their own fate in some foreign country. This would of course include that airlines commit to arrange rescue flights if travel restictions will again be increased while people are away on a holliday. And that at a ticket price not overly goughing. Countries like Cyprus have shown the way forward by guaranteeing that a certain minimum amount of care will be given also to foreign CoVid19 patiens. Only if the different sectors within the travel industry come together with solutions and agreed on sharing the burdon can customers be entized back in numbers that will make things commecially viable...

Many of them are talking about how good their air conditioning are but would probably them selves not thrust sample a packed pub that relied on their ac instead of physical separation in CoVid19 times. They talked against temperature checks at airports unitl they discovered that that meant they themselves had to take action. Then they where all for it. Masks was unworkable until the only alternative was middle seat. All of a sudden the masks where the bees knees. While Joyce, Walsh, O'Leary, Wilson and others are again and again touting the same frase that nobody have been infected on a plane, they know at the same time that that the opposite would be difficult to prove without reasonable doubt. It would require you driving directly from a 14 day quarantine to the airport in a car by yourself and all the way to the aircraft stairs. Then doing the same in the other end. An impossibility. When listening to these characters you need to interpret every word as widely as possible. T...

Let's take som quick math to Ryanair's O'Leary's claims that middle seat free is unsustainable. According to the Ryanair results presentation their average fare is 37 euro. Add 50% and it becomes 55.5 Still below Easyjet's current of 59 according to the same presentation. Will an extra 18 euro 50 cents really stop people from flying if it means they could be safer from viruses. It seems more of a pshycological problem for top brass rather than for any real economic reason, that airlines think they should be excempt from the physical distancing that every other business have to put up with. Some will always persist on squezing the last of capacity out of both materiel and staff, even at the cost of suffering, for others. The only thing a temporry 50% rise in ticket prices put an end to is O'Leary's plans about releasing a rush of Low Fares to get further market share from competitors, as long as they don't do just the same with borrowed money. I am su...

Have Ryanair's O'Leary lost the ability to ajust. He is complaining left right and center about why not everything is like before. Why should they have to practise distancing, why is there quarantines and why do the airline have to do any changes instead of somebody else like the airports taking care of all the bothersome stuff. Did he completely forget his schoolyear teachings about price unelastic demand. We see every day reports about people who would be willing to pay a bit more if there just was flights. They who want to and/or are desperate to travel will pay what it costs. But many will not travel for any price because they are scared. Either scared because they don't trust airlines to adapt to the new distancing safety standards or hardline practice the masks thing. Or scared they will be on a plane full of ignoramas who not only will not practice it there but do the same everywhere else and therefor be pestilence carriers. Better sit back and wait for better time...