Korona konsekvenser - Curt Lewis

Lufthansa Group parks 700 aircraft in crisis response Lufthansa Group is unable to predict how much its profit will fall this year as it confirmed a 95% capacity reduction to battle the coronavirus outbreak. "At present, no one can foresee the consequences," notes chief executive Carsten Spohr in a statement accompanying 2019 earnings. "We have to counter this extraordinary situation with drastic and sometimes painful measures." Spohr adds that it is the most challenging crisis in the company's history. "The longer this crisis lasts, the more likely it is that the future of aviation cannot be guaranteed without state aid," he states, echoing calls by other airlines worldwide for government help through the coming months. Capacity has been reduced to 5% of the original plan and the Lufthansa Group is parking approximately 700 of its 763 aircraft, it says. Lufthansa units Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Air Dolomiti have already declared that they are suspending operations. The group says Lufthansa itself will discontinue long-haul flying from Munich, leaving long-haul flights only from Frankfurt. Swiss will fly three times a week to Newark. Only a few European metropolitan areas will be served by short-haul flights from Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich, the group adds. Lufthansa says it has so far planned around 140 special relief flights to bring people back home, and others will follow. Freight arm Lufthansa Cargo continues to fly its regular programme, except for mainland China, meaning that its entire freighter fleet of seven Boeing 777Fs, six MD-11Fs and four 777Fs at AeroLogic is still flying. "In addition, the company is currently examining the possibility of using passenger aircraft without passengers as pure cargo aircraft in order to further increase cargo capacity," it adds. Lufthansa Group had revealed an operating profit of €2 billion ($2.2 billion) for 2019 on 13 March, but would not pay shareholders a dividend in an effort to preserve cash amid the coronavirus crisis. It has disclosed that revenues rose 2.5% to €36.4 billion. Consolidated net profit fell by 44% to €1.2 billion. Unit revenue fell 2.5%, which the group put down to high price pressure amid overcapacity. For the network airlines - Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines - adjusted EBIT was down 26% at €1.8 billion. Lufthansa says in its annual report that this was down to "scrapped aircraft" as well as impairment losses on IT projects, and financial claims related to the insolvency of Thomas Cook Group. At Eurowings, the operating loss narrowed 28% to €166 million. This includes €44 million of losses attributable to Eurowings long-haul and Brussels Airlines, which will be reported in the Network Airlines division in 2020, the group says. Lufthansa's executive board members will waive 20% of their basic pay in 2020 and the company says it is looking at using aircraft financing to provide further liquidity to see it through the crisis. Credit Suisse had forecast on 16 March that Lufthansa could make an operating loss of €1.5 billion this year and also advocated for Lufthansa to lease aircraft as a way of improving its cash position over the coming months. Lufthansa says it is seeking to reduce fixed costs by one-third during the crisis, such as by implementing short-term working, asking staff to take unpaid leave, imposing a hiring freeze, and cancelling wet-leases, as well as cutting executive pay. Finance chief Ulrik Svensson states: "Lufthansa Group is financially well-equipped to cope with an extraordinary crisis situation such as the current one."

COVID-19: After GoAir fires expat pilots, IndiGo warns of tough decisions  IndiGo's flight operations head says economic environment had worsened significantly The economic environment in the aviation sector has deteriorated significantly and it has become necessary to initiate some tough decisions over the next few days and weeks, IndiGo's flight operations chief Ashim Mitra told pilots in an email on Thursday morning. With countries sealing their borders partially or fully across the world due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the aviation sector has been hit extremely hard as most airlines globally have drastically curtailed their flight operations. Mitra stated in his email, "Economic environment has deteriorated significantly and no airline is insulated from this severe downturn." "It has become a necessity to initiate some tough calls and we are working on a string of measures that will be shared and implemented over the next few days and weeks," Mitra said. Asking the pilots to not believe any hearsay, Mitra added that the airline will keep them updated. "Please keep taking all the precautions against COVID-19 and we shall overcome any challenge...," he said. GoAir cuts staff GoAir on Wednesday said it has terminated contracts of expatriate pilots amid curtailed operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. Citing "unprecedented" decline in air travel, the budget carrier, on Tuesday, announced suspension of international operations and offering of leave without pay programme for its staff on a rotational basis. "In view of the current situation, GoAir has been forced to terminate the contracts of expat pilots, which is in line with the reduced international capacity," a GoAir spokesperson said in a statement to PTI. However, the spokesperson did not respond to a query on the number of expat pilots whose contracts have been terminated. According to an airline source, it has around 80 expatriate pilots. "... GoAir is forced to temporarily suspend all its international operations (Dammam, Kuwait, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bangkok, Phuket and Male) starting March 17 until April 15. No sooner the situation improves, GoAir will reinstate these flights and operate at the earliest opportunity," the statement said.

Business jet-maker Textron Aviation furloughs thousands of US workers as coronavirus hits aerospace industry Textron Aviation is furloughing workers through the end of May as coronavirus spreads. Aviation is at the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis as curbs on travel grow. Textron makes business jets and other smaller passenger planes. Business jet-maker Textron Aviation on Wednesday said it will furlough thousands of U.S. employees, as the rapid spread of coronavirus hurts the aviation industry and other sectors. The maker of Cessna and Beechcraft airplanes said it will furlough workers on a staggered schedule from March 23 through May 29. The company declined to say how many it is furloughing but a spokeswoman said it applies to "most" of its U.S. workers, which number 12,000. Shares of Textron fell 8% to close at $25.79. "This decision will allow us to do our part in mitigating and containing the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing, while continuing to support our customers," Ron Draper, the Textron unit's CEO told employees in a note, which was seen by CNBC. "Due to anticipated market conditions, we are adjusting production to align with anticipated market production. This is a very difficult first step in responding to a situation that has affected our entire world." Air travel demand has been devastated by coronavirus as companies scale back on business trips and travel restrictions. Boeing on Tuesday said it was seeking government support of $60 billion for itself and the aviation industry.