Airlines in a Crisis

Maybe their towels was left on a sunbed somewhere.  Lufthansa have been negotiating with the German government for a multi billion euro package. Howeber german pride within the company have topped them from actuallya ccepting the money offered. For the first they don't want to give up slots iin the german airports they hold a stranglehold on. For the second they don't want civil cervants or even worse politicians keeping an eye on how they run things, or god forbid how large a new Mercedes top managmenet changes to every year. Pehaps it shouldn't have been so surprising, at least for they who knew luftie couldn't make money on transporting tourists. Well according to some insider commentators that is. But are instead depending on they who don't pay for the ticket themselves, and hopefully are not looking at the costs. That in a downturn is a castle built on sand.  Letting foreign Low Costs in and showing the natives how little they really could get away with pay...

Airlines should the minute the lockdowns started have realised that all bookings made was on a diferent basis for a world no longer existing. They should then have cancelled all previous bookings, reset their systems and treated it as beginning of time and asked all previous and potential new customers to book again when a new schedule where made available. Only if refunds are made can new customers be convinced that the money they pay for new bookings will not disappear in the same voucher hole as their previous now cancelled bookings. Specially if some of the carefull reopenings are reversed and more flights are again cancelled. Problem is many airlines have been treating funds received for future bookings as a part of their cash reserves. Good accounting practices says they are unearned revenue and should be booked as such, only coming into the earned and profit accounts when travel happens. However many airlines have been tempted to see these amounts that can build up in their bi...