Originally Posted by EAM
The same has been done with Swissair and Sabena.
If you dont like it, what would YOU do? AZ going bankrupt and thats it?
No new airline and 18.000 people without job?
I dont realy get your piont on all this, what is it that you dont like?
And dont say its all the money that AZ is getting from the gov all flaggcarriers in the EU received a lot of money from their gov.
Sabena and Swissair were different. Sabena went bust. SB Airholding/Brussels was started with a lot of money from banks, and expanded by merging Virgin Express with the new airline. SRB still owns 30% of the current entity thanks to this merger.
Swissair went bust, yes. Swiss was once Crossair, a Euro subsidiary of Swissair, so transferring airline stock and rights was easily possible. Again, here several banks clubbed together to put together a rescue package worth around $700 million. The Swiss government did NOT get involved.
The 18,000 people would have perhaps still had a job if Berlusconi hadn't been as obstinate as he is, and had accepted the AirFranceKLM rescue deal. A lot of the fluff would've had to go, but it would've been less painful. Besides, AirOne and others would've been able to absorb some of the detritus. But - why did the AFKLM deal die? Because the unions wouldn't budge. Now they're up the creek without a paddle anyway.
As for your assertion that ALL carriers in Europe received state aid, that is true in certain aspects. But NONE of them have received as extensive state aid as AZ has in the last few years. In some cases the governments provided insurance guarantees (post 9/11), in others loans were made that had to be repaid (and were). But none have had 300 million Euro handed to them, ostensibly as a state loan, only for the government to then 'write it off' by letting AZ go bust.
S.