Where's the real equivalent of a US type of Chapter 11 for European
companies ?
In most of the EU countries it happens only very rarely that companies go into Bankrupty protection shielding them temporarily from their creditors and enabling them to renegotiate contracts, salaries ,etc.... .
In the US however every couple of years they seem to be allowed to go into bankrupty protection modus without too much complaining from the government.
Makes one wonder what all this talk about free market rules, surviving of the best companies vs bad companies, market competition mechanisms all really means in all the different "free trade" western nations.
Not saying that things are better in the US but only noticing that we all seem to be playing with a completely different set of rules in the aviation world when it comes to its basic economic principles.
-China with its many airlines that all have to follow a centralised planned
strategy when push comes to shove.
-The "free" market US where no company seems to have to pay the ultimate price when **** hits the proverbial fan except for their employees and creditors of course.
-The middle East where many airlines seem to be devoid of economical principles and grow, grow , grow no matter the cost (not aiming at Emirates for those that wonder)
-The Indian market and far East that have many big airlines that do everything except make money on a sustainable base.
-Many nations around the world that still keep an old style staterun airline afloat.
-And than we also have the EU, whereby some get the axe at the first sign of troubles while others go through a long continuous death-debt struggle, than there are those that should have perished long time ago but are kept alive through local politics and last but certainly not least the likes of Air France that enjoy factual monopolies ,are considered free enterprises but are still controlled like it was 1984 again, sucks if you worked for a company like SABENA, hurray if you work for AirFrance, Alitalia.
Not only that, but the EU seems intent on making the region one of the hardest to start up a new AoC, aside from the business environment, the operational environment is getting harder.
would you throw your hard earned into starting a new carrier in the EU ?