The idea of Flybe staff being able to access the same funding would be great, but I guess there are just lots of complications here.
- Furloughing means you're still employed by a business that still exists, but Flybe became insolvent on 5th March and ceased to exist as a going concern on this date.
- If furloughed, what happens to these individuals? The Flybe business is being administrated and bits of it sold off to the highest bidder so there will be no business to return too.
- Many of those made redundant on 5th March will have already received and put to use redundancy payments. Wouldn't these need to be repaid by those individuals if they are to be furloughed instead?
No doubt there are others too. I really do have huge empathy for the situation at Flybe. I had many friends that worked there but as so often seems to be the case, it just comes down to timing and you either fall one side of the line or the other.
On this occasion, a business that has used up a number of lives in the past succumbed to its last.
What I'm really disappointed by is that not enough priority has been given to regional connectivity. I can't help but feel that what this country will need, more than anything else when all this is over, is not an operator with a heavy leisure bias, but one that is more business orientated to help build a recovery here in the UK. Flybe would've been able to offer this and help speed us through the recovery phase and get business moving again.