Lufthansa cutting back due to virus

[Check Airman]

https://www.avitrader.com/2020/02/26/coronavirus-forces-lufthansa-to-new-cost-cutting-course/

[procede]

I think most airlines are doing the same thing. I know from dutch media that KLM is.
Especially as it is not just flights within, to and from south east asia.

[iggy]

I think the virus is partially being used as a "cleaning tool". Managers never miss a chance to miss a chance and twist the knife a bit more...

[Less Hair]

Conference travel, trade shows, sporting events travel is down as is Asia travel. No surprise so far and the real pandemia panic lies still ahead in Europe and the US. The secret is to shrink early not burn your budget while waiting for things to improve.

[Desertweasel]

And SIA https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/media-centre/news-alert/?id=iz3bp6o4
I would expect this across the board to be frank

[Gove N.T.]

“Apologies for inconvenience”. Another meaningless phrase used by many service providers.
Hard headed sense when demand is reduced effected by waste conscious management such as that displayed by SQ.

[CaptainProp]

I think the virus is partially being used as a "cleaning tool". Managers never miss a chance to miss a chance and twist the knife a bit more...

Exactly this.

CP

[Twitter]

Exactly this.

CP

It’s being used to clean the Stock Market too. Bubble is shrinking...

[Longtimer]

Exactly this.

CP

bs, no passengers = reduction in flights / staffs. Look for the same in the near future re Northern Italy.

[wishiwasupthere]

Never miss the opportunity to exploit a crisis.

[OldnGrounded]

Never miss the opportunity to exploit a crisis.

Oh, they'll exploit it for sure. But there really is a developing crisis and it's quite likely to have a major impact on travel, worldwide, for some time.

[Drc40]

Oh, they'll exploit it for sure. But there really is a developing crisis and it's quite likely to have a major impact on travel, worldwide, for some time.

It already has and will expand further. Well said

[ATC Watcher]

Lufthansa : all new hires planned for the airline will be reassessed, suspended or deferred to a later date. For the time being, the participants of courses that are already in progress will not be hired.

Same old, same old.. crisis short term measures taken in an office by a few that will have a long lasting impact on the company for years... They never learn ...:*

[Twitter]

Same old, same old.. crisis short term measures taken in an office by a few that will have a long lasting impact on the company for years... They never learn ...:*

Pilots learn to handle the controls smoothly - managers never do...

[airseb]

Apparently, LH grounding 20% of their fleet! Wow!

[ATC Watcher]

Not only Lufthansa . Italian government announced today restrictions on movement population so that will hit the local airlines badly too.
The French Government has announced a plan ( so called level 3 ) in case massive expansion of virus that will virtually close any gathering of people including public transport.
We are not there yet , but people are not booking flights at the moment . Difficult weeks/months ahead for everyone in our business.. :uhoh:

[Theholdingpoint]

Italian government announced today massive restrictions on movement population


I don't know where you're getting your info, but this is totally false.

[bunk exceeder]

Are they perhaps grounding 4.16% of their fleet?

[ATC Watcher]

I don't know where you're getting your info, but this is totally false.
from the Italian media ( nearly all newspapers )
In order to stop the virus spreading further, the Italian government's special scientific committee on Coronavirus publish on Wednesday a set of recommendations it hopes everyone in the country will follow.

The official advice states that people should avoid crowded places and keep “at least one metre” away from anyone else at all times.

The official advise is for all over '75s to stay at home and “avoid social contact”. Anyone over the age of 65 with health problems and people with respiratory conditions have also been advised to stay at home.

It is recommended that all football matches and other sporting events in Italy be played behind closed doors. This would include Serie A games, many of which have already been postponed due to the health ministry's recommendations.

The warnings are in place for the whole of Italy for the next 30 days, though they will be re-evaluated every 15 days.

[Theholdingpoint]

So an advice to keep at least one meter from others is a "massive restrictions on movement population" now?

Don't bother linking Italian articles, I live there.

[ATC Watcher]

So an advice to keep at least one meter from others is a "massive restrictions on movement population" now?

Don't bother linking Italian articles, I live there.
I agree, looking at it again it does not read well, , I should not have used the word "massive" I have amended my post. Sorry about that,.

[bulldog89]

Does anybody know if Air Dolomiti is grounding planes too?

[foxcharliep2]

LH considers the grounding of its entire A380 fleet of 14 a/c, reducing their entire flight ops by 50% and applying for "Kurzarbeit" - reduced working hours with state benefits.

[Less Hair]

All of their A380 will be grounded from Monday I have heard as flights switch to smaller sized aircraft.

[atakacs]

That's pretty drastic.
I wonder what will happen to Emirates if this develops as many expect it to...

[Fly3]

My Air France flight from Singapore to Paris on the 7th April has just been cancelled. Offered seats next day. Guess it's gonna get worse.

[Airbubba]

From Business Insider:

Airlines are burning thousands of gallons of fuel flying empty 'ghost' planes so they can keep their flight slots during the coronavirus outbreakAdam Bienkov (https://www.businessinsider.com/author/adam-bienkov)
Mar 6, 2020, 7:45 AM

Airlines have wasted thousands of gallons of fuel running empty "ghost" flights during the coronavirus outbreak because of European rules saying operators can lose their flight slots if they keep their planes on the ground.

Demand for flights has collapsed across the globe amid growing fears about the outbreak (https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-britain-united-kingdom-infection-deaths-symptoms-2020-3?r=US&IR=T).

Under Europe's rules, airlines operating out of the continent must continue to run 80% of their allocated slots or risk losing them to a competitor.

This has led to some operators flying empty planes into and out of European countries at huge costs, The Times of London reported (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/airlines-are-flying-empty-planes-to-keep-slots-during-the-coronavirus-crisis-c8w33vzqg).

On Thursday, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps wrote to Airport Coordination Limited (https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1235614933292920832) asking for the rules to be suspended during the outbreak to prevent further environmental and economic damage.
"I am particularly concerned that, in order to satisfy the 80/20 rule, airlines may be forced to fly aircraft at very low load factors, or even empty, in order to retain their slots," Shapps wrote."Such a scenario is not acceptable. It is not in the industry's, the passengers' or the environment's interest and must be avoided."

ACL (https://www.acl-uk.org/) has already suspended the rules for flights to and from Hong Kong and mainland China. However, they remain for all other flights.

On Thursday, the UK airline Flybe went into administration (https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-airline-flybe-declares-bankruptcy-flights-grounded-2020-3?r=US&IR=T), a practice similar to filing for bankruptcy protection, though it said its financial problems existed long before the outbreak.

The International Air Transport Association has estimated that the outbreak could wipe out up to $113 billion (https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/05/business/airlines-coronavirus-iata-travel/index.html) in airline sales worldwide.


https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-airlines-run-empty-ghost-flights-planes-passengers-outbreak-covid-2020-3

[Airbubba]

The U.S. State Department now recommends that its citizens, particularly those with underlying health conditions, not travel by cruise ship. Will a similar recommended ban on airline travel soon follow? Or, was the airline ban overruled by higher authority for now?

Passengers on Cruise Ships

U.S. citizens, particularly travelers with underlying health conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. CDC notes increased risk of infection of COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment. In order to curb the spread of COVID-19, many countries have implemented strict screening procedures that have denied port entry rights to ships and prevented passengers from disembarking. In some cases, local authorities have permitted disembarkation but subjected passengers to local quarantine procedures. While the U.S. government has evacuated some cruise ship passengers in recent weeks, repatriation flights should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens under the potential risk of quarantine by local authorities.


https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/cruise-ship-passengers.html


Official: White House didn’t want to tell seniors not to fly
By MIKE STOBBE

March 8, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — The White House overruled health officials who wanted to recommend that elderly and physically fragile Americans be advised not to fly on commercial airlines because of the new coronavirus, a federal official told The Associated Press.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention submitted the plan as a way of trying to control the virus, but White House officials ordered the air travel recommendation be removed, said the official who had direct knowledge of the plan. Trump administration officials have since suggested certain people should consider not traveling, but have stopped short of the stronger guidance sought by the CDC.

The person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity did not have authorization to talk about the matter. The person did not have direct knowledge about why the decision to kill the language was made or who made the call.

Administration officials disputed the person’s account. In a tweet, the press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence, Katie Miller, said that “it was never a recommendation to the Task Force” and called the AP story “complete fiction.” On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci — the head of infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force — said “no one overruled anybody.”


https://apnews.com/921ad7f1f08d7634bf681ba785faf269