Originally Posted by
Albert Hall
Question: does anyone really, genuinely believe that Flybe would have survived anyway had Coronavirus not come along? Its financial woes (the latest round) hit the headlines in January and remained there all the way through February, when Coronavirus was a far-off, distant issue to so many of us. It was an airline in deep trouble and requiring Government bail-outs back in January. Although I know they said what they said at the time of closure, I really can't see how they'd have had a chance of survival without Government support, with or without Coronavirus.
Probably not. But if bankruptcy protection existed here like it does in the states, perhaps BE could have ditched all the E jets and closed all the silly bases it opened to keep them busy. They could have retrenched to their key bases that built them into the big player they became in the first place, and ticked along nicely. On paper I cannot see how a fleet of q400s operating from a few strategic bases on domestic routes and the key continental trunk routes could be any more of a profitable operation? Of course things aren't that simple, but its not like BE had much competition on those routes. I would love to know what part the lessors played in BE's demise, it looks like NAC lease both E jets and q400s to BE. Whilst a contract is a contract, you would like to think it would be better to allow BE to ditch the E jets than force the airline to collapse and have all the q400s also sitting idle. I suspect the coronavirus will be dishing sum long awaited humble pie to airline lessors.