Effects of Covid-19 on airlines

[Big Boy]

What surprises me with this, is casting my mind back to the Millenium Bug, It was suggested that all aircraft should be grounded for at least 24 hours to save any chance of them falling from the skies. At the time it was said there was not enough ground space to accommodate every aircraft.

OK, the planes in the photo look as though they're stored in a muddy field, but was that Millenium story just an early version of Fake News? Or has necessity found that extra space?

[STEVE G]

What surprises me with this, is casting my mind back to the Millenium Bug, It was suggested that all aircraft should be grounded for at least 24 hours to save any chance of them falling from the skies. At the time it was said there was not enough ground space to accommodate every aircraft.

OK, the planes in the photo look as though they're stored in a muddy field, but was that Millenium story just an early version of Fake News? Or has necessity found that extra space?

Fake News is deliberate misinformation, being wrong is just bad news.The company I work for has 30 Boeing 747 freighter aircraft and there isn't enough parking at the main base for them all at the same time without blocking taxiways. If you see pictures of major airports, there are even aircraft parked on runways at the moment.

[HHTel]

What surprises me with this, is casting my mind back to the Millenium Bug, It was suggested that all aircraft should be grounded for at least 24 hours to save any chance of them falling from the skies. At the time it was said there was not enough ground space to accommodate every aircraft.

OK, the planes in the photo look as though they're stored in a muddy field, but was that Millenium story just an early version of Fake News? Or has necessity found that extra space?

Haha. That 'millennium bug' was the biggest scam of the century, started and maintained by the government. I made a small fortune for very little work at the time. Come midnight on the 31st, I believe up to 60% of companies had done nothing which is just what happened at midnight....... nothing!

The saddest story I heard was in Thailand. A lady drew all her money out of the bank in fear of losing it. Deposited in her home. A fire broke out and destroyed her home along with her life savings.

[Nereus]

OK, the planes in the photo look as though they're stored in a muddy field,

Excuse me, that is a nice dry area in Alice Springs, where the owner is making a small fortune with his parking space!

Just as well the "traditional owners" don't read this forum or they might put a curse on you.

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[Big Boy]

HaHa, still looks like a muddy field

[caller]

Excuse me, that is a nice dry area in Alice Springs

I'm glad you said 'dry area' - the first time I went to Alice Springs it looked like this!

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[pharvey]

"German airline Lufthansa has said it will cut 22,000 jobs as it struggles to deal with the slump in air travel caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The carrier predicted a slow recovery in demand and expected to have about 100 fewer aircraft after the crisis.

Lufthansa said half the job cuts would be in Germany. It hopes to agree the measures with unions by 22 June.

It added that it hoped to minimise redundancies through short-time working and crisis agreements.

"The aim is to pave the way for the preservation of as many jobs as possible in the Lufthansa Group," the company said.

The airline employs more than 135,000 people worldwide. About half of them are in Germany."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53007048

[pharvey]

Certainly still seem to be a fair few in the air, but guess many are cargo. Was watching this (free) site earlier which is very interesting - just a check as I'd heard some aircraft overhead (more-so than recently). I've used this APP before whilst working overseas and it's been very accurate/reliable: -
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Check the APP at: - https://www.flightradar24.com/51.82,-3.05/2

Free - very good - I use an upgraded version for around £1 per month. Has been great for me whilst working away.

[HHTel]

I've used this to track visitors in the past. It certainly looks very busy but if you zoom in on the major airports, you get a different picture. Heathrow for example, has one just taken off and one preparing to take off. Plus around 5 on the ground. veeerry quiet. I looked at Swampy yesterday, can't remember the time, and there was 2 on the ground and none in the air.
There are more on the ground of course but they don't register unless they're 'switched on'

[pharvey]

Makes a farce of "Social Distancing"..

Full Story: -

EasyJet Boss Says Full Planes Are 100% Safe as Flights Resume

"The boss of EasyJet has said he would feel "100% safe" flying on full planes as the airline resumed a limited number of flights after a 10-week hiatus.

Johan Lundgren told the PA news agency the airline had followed international guidelines to step up hygiene ahead of a resumption of services on Monday.

Passengers and crew will wear masks and planes will be deep-cleaned often.

But passengers will not have to sit 2m apart, despite calls for middle seats to remain empty for social distancing.

"That was a proposal early on from one of the regulators," Mr Lundgren told the BBC's Today programme.

"But the recommendations that have come out from international authorities… which are also supported by the different local regulators do not include social distancing measures on board the aircraft."

The idea of keeping middle seats empty has been strongly criticised by some airlines, with Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary calling it "idiotic" and warning it would make commercial flights unviable.

But Easyjet said previously it would follow the practice to encourage more people to fly, and some Asian countries have made it a rule."

Another (worrying but not unexpected) snippet from this article: -

"* EasyJet has said it will cut up to 30% of its workforce - about 4,500 jobs.

* British Airways is proposing to make 12,000 of its 45,000 staff redundant, with more than 1,000 pilot roles at risk.

* Ryanair is set to shed 3,000 jobs - 15% of its workforce - with boss Michael O'Leary saying the planned cuts are "the minimum that we need just to survive the next 12 months".

* Virgin Atlantic, which employs 10,000 people, has said it will cut 3,000 jobs.

* Other European airlines cutting back include Germany's Lufthansa, which on Thursday said it would cut 22,000 jobs."

[Dannie Boy]

There have been numerous reports regarding social distancing on aircraft and the vast majority that I have read all suggest two things - keeping the middle seat empty would have little or no impact regarding the spread of COVID, linked to the fact that aircraft air conditioning systems recirculate air ever 1-2 minutes so whatever is in the aircraft is filtered but distributed amongst the passengers. The only 100% safe way of flying is stay at home.


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[pharvey]

There have been numerous reports regarding social distancing on aircraft and the vast majority that I have read all suggest two things - keeping the middle seat empty would have little or no impact regarding the spread of COVID, linked to the fact that aircraft air conditioning systems recirculate air ever 1-2 minutes so whatever is in the aircraft is filtered but distributed amongst the passengers. The only 100% safe way of flying is stay at home.


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Agree 100% - I travel a great deal for work (well, at least I did). the vast majority of the time I caught any virus was down to travelling in an aircraft and it's "air conditioning systems" IMO and my GP's. Regardless of this, WTF would keeping the middle seat empty do??!!

Packed planes still arriving in London from China (Chengdu I see a lot) - seriously?! And God only knows how many direct/indirect flights from the likes of Brazil.

[Nereus]

There have been numerous reports regarding social distancing on aircraft and the vast majority that I have read all suggest two things - keeping the middle seat empty would have little or no impact regarding the spread of COVID, linked to the fact that aircraft air conditioning systems recirculate air ever 1-2 minutes so whatever is in the aircraft is filtered but distributed amongst the passengers. The only 100% safe way of flying is stay at home.
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I posted about about aircraft air conditioning previously:

Thu May 07, 2020 10:09 am
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=39124&p=510648&hil ... ng#p510648

Approximately 20 cubic feet per minute (cfm) of air per passenger is provided, of which half
is filtered recirculated air and half is outside air. This results in a complete cabin air exchange every two to three minutes (20 to 30 air changes per hour).
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/do ... 1&type=pdf

[Pinoydave]

Nobody seems to have any idea.... EasyJet are doom and gloom..... Whizz have already started flying, ramping up again soon and even expanding into new places this summer

[HHTel]

They're banking on people who really can't afford anything else. I'd have to be very hard up to even think of travelling with them.
It's cheap for anyone with no luggage, doesn't want to eat or drink, slim enough to fit into their small seats, arriving/take off at low cost terminals etc etc.

Try finding a decent review among the hundreds of bad ones.