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Old 24th Mar 2020, 07:20
  #7 (permalink)  
procede
 
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Originally Posted by krismiler
Generally people will downgrade a step or two, first class to business, business to economy, full service to low cost. Long haul holiday destination to regional, regional to domestic. The problem experienced in the UK after the financial crisis was that people's spending levels didn't instantly rebound once things improved. Money saving habits were ingrained and once it was realised that supermarket own brands did the same job as premium ones, you didn't actually need to upgrade your cell phone every year and a ready meal from M&S with their own brand wine was as nice as a poncy restaurant, it was hard to justify going back to the old ways. This was especially applicable if you were caught with your pants down financially having little in the bank and heavy monthly commitments.

The big question is of course, how long this goes on for. A vaccine available in mass quantities tomorrow would end the immediate crisis and we could concentrate on the economy, a second wave of a more severe virus strain with a higher mortality rate would plunge us into a depression that would still affect our grandchildren.

The A350 may be a better aircraft than the B787 but it couldn't compete with second hand B787s being sold at fire sale prices by bankrupt or downsizing airlines. There are probably enough narrow bodies around at the moment to cater for immediate needs, the newer and larger variants such as the A321NEO could replace widebodies on many routes which would be unable to sustain a 300 seat aircraft. The B777-300 would effectively be the new A380. Fuel prices are unlikely to be a major issue for a while which will extend the lifespans of older aircraft currently in use.
And then there are the grounded 737MAX...

I think you will be able to get a widebody aircraft free with your cornflakes, as long as you pick it up and pay for parking...
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