Cabbies count cost

they can’t pay their bills, they can’t pay their levies.

‘‘All taxi drivers are in dire straits. They survived for a bit with the wage subsidy, but they’ve exhausted their resources.’’

Revenue for the company, which had been slowly returning to normal, had fallen to 39 per cent of pre-Covid levels – and Clyma reckoned his business was doing better thanmost.

‘‘The airport is 50 per cent of our business. It’s as much as 90 per cent for some smaller companies, because they don’t have corporate and government contracts,’’ Clyma said.

Auckland-based Corporate Cabs saw a 99.2 per cent drop in business during the first lockdown compared to the same period last year, according to chief executive Cameron Allison.

Business was starting to bounce back quicker after the second lockdown, he said, but even in a best-case scenario, Corporate Cabs didn’t expect to reach more than 65 per cent of its pre-Covid business in the next six to 12 months.

‘‘Our franchise operators are doing it incredibly tough at the moment,’’ Allison said. ‘‘It’s not just Auckland, it’s across the board.

‘‘If there’s no further financial support, it’s inevitable that our fleet size will reduce.’’

Bob Wilkinson of Blue Bubble taxis said several drivers had opted to simply park their cars up after repeatedly failing to break even on a day’s work.

‘‘They’re self-employed. Insurance isn’t cheap, that doesn’t stop. Then you’ve got car maintenance, licences and levies,’’ he said. ‘‘The impact on them has been absolutely huge.’’

Taxi company Green Cabs was liquidated in May, affecting 160 jobs. If the state of the industry doesn’t change soon, Wilkinson predicts there will be more closures.

‘‘There’s a lot of uncertainty about the future – we don’t know when it’s going to end,’’ he said.