pug
I think you’re living in a dream land. Jet2 won’t have flown a paying customer for almost 6 months. Unless they really do have a magic money tree, they won’t survive without a strong summer or diversifying their operation. Or is every other airline that has done just that wrong? I don’t think Virgin, BA and TUI imagined they’d be flying raw rubber, salmon, avocados, vaccines, troops, electronics and car parts across the world, but it’s making them money whilst their core business has been decimated.
If last year proved anything, it’s that a certain proportion of customers will go on holiday to wherever is possible. If that’s only going to be Malta, Portugal and Israel in June, the demand for these destinations is going to increase dramatically (I believe it already has). If Jet2 want to sit in hibernation whilst the rest of the industry eats their lunch then that’s up to them.
Aside from anything, a gradual restart is far less risky than their apparent Big Bang approach. I don’t expect many of the fan club to appreciate the cost and logistics of getting hundreds of pilots and thousands of cabin crew back to work. Every single pilot will require some sort of simulator training, the majority will now require line training. Simulator capacity restraints will almost certainly mean they have to operate non revenue flights to get pilots legal and current again. Operating a small program to Portugal and Malta or wherever else is possible from mid May or June would’ve allowed sufficient commercial sectors to get the majority of the workforce current and ready for a substantial restart, whenever that may be.
It’s all very well shouting “I’m sure they know what they’re doing”, but the same could be said for every other airline, the majority of which are doing the complete opposite.