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...

Norwegian did not spend the time well since the last injection of government loans. Too much concentration on finding finance too little on what makes an airline a viable business.  They could have gone for doing more cargo. If they by now transported halve of the Norwegian international post and a large portion of its exportable airfreight products if would have given the Norwegian government a reason for why the company needed saving.  They could have marked them out as bringing something extra to the CoVid19 table by, as the only airline in Europe, offering to transport the nervous in a socially distancing environment by at least offering the option of middle seat free in parts of the cabin. For 50% extra on the ticketprice off course. Then the politicians could have said look what Norwegian brings to the table, we need that, lets give them a helping hand.  Instead they decided to spend all their effort and most of their time in scouring for finance. Not easy to ...

A number of airlines in the US is practicing middle seat free on flights to provide some degree of social distancing. No airline in Europe have taken this aboard to try to improve the public confidence in that flying can be safe weven in pandemic times. Although Ryanair was once modelled on Southwest, it's leader have been outspoken on how unwilling they are on doing anything to placate its potential customers worries.. While Sothwest is practicing middle seat free and have promised its potential passengers to continue to do so. At some stage even European airlines will hopefully come to the conclusion that even bargain basement fares is not going to entice the large majority of the audience back to flying. And with the capacities they have built up they can't live on the 25% of the population that don't care and will travel anyhow and anyway. Even if they could bully governments to lift restrictions, they can't bully the nervous and wait and see majority of the pub...

According to frequent reports Ryanair has not managed to fit to CoVid19 their automatic seating algoritm that splits people on the same booking in the hope they will pay extra to sit together. This is a low even for Ryanair. They have in the last years upped their IT department with a factor of 10 and added dozens of programmers to have control over their systems. And still 6 months into a pandemic where every airline knows that only they on the same booking should sit together and everyone else should distance Ryanair management have not yet copped on. In addition at the same time they are seating non related and uknown people together it is reported they are laving some rows completely empty. Theis means they are not even trying to do anything to reduce contamination. It is time for some punishment and maybe the italians for once will be first already threatening a ban on Ryanair if they do not get their act together.

Hear again and again that if you want social distancing = middle seat free, then buy a first class ticket or more than 1 seat. Problem is there are no socially distancing first class on domestic and next to none on airtravel within Europe. And even if you buy the full 3 seats there are no guarantees that the airline won't fill the other 2 if only you shows up for departure. And social distancing should not cost double the price or more. At the most on a normal 3+3 row seat configuration it should be 50% more. It is this kind of naive thinking that is hindering airlines from taking potential passengers fear of CoVid19 seriously. And this fear affect halve of all thinking about flying during the pandemic. The airlines have built up so much capacity hey just can't survive on the 25% of us that don't care and will fly anyway. At the very least airlines should offer proper social distancing, aka middle seat free, as an option. It is time for them to wake up. They have jibbe...

Specially Low Fares airlins without distinctly different seat configurations for where passengers can choose to pay more for a more separate seatig arrangements, should at this time consider to give ereryone an option to increase the amount of potential customers. Some have suggested to call the Couldn't Care Less class (CCLc) the CoVid19 class but that could give the wrong associations and suggest the airline actually accept infected people on board. Something that should of course be avoided with all possible measures. Sanitized class (Sc) would have middle seat free and cleaning would be done between each flight. Cleaning would include wiping down all touch surfaces like armrests, tray tables, seat backs and similar, including anything you are likely to touch when boarding and disembarking. In additional each passenger should be supplied with packed sanitizing napkins if they want to do additional wipe downs themselves. They would also board from the front. and their toilets ...

Take the analogy of going for a walk and you meet people that don't care about social distancing. You just know that if they are careless when you meet them they will be just as careless in other aspects of dealing with the spread.  Always choose a route where you are the one that controls the distance. Always choose an airline that has taken more precautions than the absolute minimum that won't cost them much. Smart travellers will make up their mind about what amount of precautions is necessary and will choose an airline that supplys them. However I'm not saying an airline, even a low fares one, couldn't cater for both. Instead of a class divider curtain they could have a CoVid19 precaution divider curtain. In front you get free middle seats, cleaning of toilets between each customer and cleaning of cabin between each flight. Behind, for a bit less money, you get nightly cleaning and shared armrests.

Some airlines see their strict adherence to social distancing as a marketing opportunity. Promising doubting passengers that they won't be seated within touching distance of somebody they don't know will attract people nervous about being infected in an environment they have little control over. https://simpleflying.com/jetblue-july-social-distancing/ This is the way to get more people up in the air. Not coming with unconfirmed swada about that nobody gets infected on an airplane just because it yet haven't been proven to the full extent of the law. If airline executivess really think their Hepa filtered airconditioning systems are so excellent in stopping all contamination would they approve if pubs and all other indoor crowded spaces also just demanded masks and turned their airconditioning up. They also suffer economically if they can't stuff people in to the degree they did before.

Social distancing must be practiced everywhere els ein corona times, why not on airlines. No business think physical distancing is good for profit but most have to accept it asa necessity in a hopefully temporary new reality. Airline management though seem to find the whole concept difficult. Some of them are so used just for profit to stuff their customers in to the absolute legal limit and without comforts that they don't. Safety is just because accidents are bad for business. In a differnt time they would be landlords sending their tenants on coffinships to America so they could utilize the vacated land better. Problem with that way of thinking arise when low-low prices are no longer the be all and end all for if people want to fly or not. In dangerous times people become price unelastic and will pay what it costs if they absolutely have to fly. And if not necessary they won't no matter how cheap it is. This concept seeems to escape many of todays airline chiefs. Even thoug...

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...