Airlines making massive cuts to flight schedules in wake of virus
FLIGHT schedules have been slashed by the UK’s busiest airlines due to coronavirus.
EasyJet, Ryanair and British Airways have all reduced flights amid travel restrictions and a huge drop in demand.
And Virgin Atlantic staff are being forced to take two months unpaid leave as airlines struggle due to coronavirus. The airline is due to cut its flight schedule by 80% from today.
“Further significant cancellations” were announced by easyJet, which warned the “majority” of its planes could be grounded in the future.
Ryanair announced that most of its aircraft will stop flying in the next seven to 10 days and “a full grounding of the fleet cannot be ruled out”.
British Airways’ parent company IAG revealed that its capacity for April and May would be cut by “at least 75%” compared with the same period in 2019.
EasyJet said in a statement there is “no guarantee” that European airlines “will survive what could be a long-term travel freeze and the risks of a slow recovery”.
The airline went on to say it is taking “every action to remove cost and non-critical expenditure from the business at every level”.
It insisted it “maintains a strong balance sheet” including £1.6bn cash and a $500m (£405m) credit facility.
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: “At easyJet we are doing everything in our power to rise to the challenges of the coronavirus so that we can continue to provide the benefits that aviation brings to people, the economy and business. We continue to operate rescue and repatriation flights to get people home where we canQ.
“European aviation faces a precarious future and it is clear that co-ordinated government backing will be required to ensure the industry survives.”
IAG announced that chief executive Willie Walsh – who was due to step down from the role next week – has agreed to delay his retirement “for a short period” to provide stability.
The group said it is taking actions to reduce operating expenses and improve cash flow, including “temporarily suspending employment contracts and reducing working hours”, grounding aircraft, reducing capital spending and cutting “non-essential” IT spend.
It added that it has “total liquidity” of €9.3bn (£8.4bn).
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said there are “lots of different options” to help the aviation industry through the coronavirus crisis.
He told Sky News: “We want to make sure that companies and individuals and organisations who are in a good state – not those that are going to fail anyway – are able to continue.”
Asked if a bailout of airlines was on the table, Mr Shapps said: “There are lots of different options here – including some other things that people have been looking for, for example HMRC offer a ‘time to pay’.”
“We recognise how difficult the current situation is for the aviation sector and we are engaging with the sector’s leadership at both official and ministerial level in order to support workers, businesses and passengers.”