Is Flybe on its way back to the skies?

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• Kris says:

  30 Mar30 March 03:23

  How much is that gonna cost us? The government has no business running an airline. The unions will demand higher salaries & benefits knowing the tax payer is paying them. They’ll be no incentive to be profitable. Governments are only good at wasting money

  • James says:

    30 Mar30 March 03:35

    Drag yourself out of the 1970s.

    • JAXBA says:

      30 Mar30 March 04:20

      Even in the 2020s Alitalia and South African Airlines have those exact problems.

      • JAXBA says:

        30 Mar30 March 04:21

        South African Airways*

      • Callum says:

        30 Mar30 March 09:29

        So do plenty of private companies. Likewise, plenty of nationalised companies don’t have that problem.

        It’s pretty clear that knee jerk responses against nationalisation are more often than not based on political philosophy and not actual realities.

        • Joe says:

          30 Mar30 March 10:04

          Jeremy Corbyn was not only right after all, he’s busy posting on HfP

        • Rob says:

          30 Mar30 March 11:15

          Not that you should believe The Sunday Times, but it said yesterday that Corbyn had been looking at ways to annul the leadership election on the grounds of national emergency as it is clear Starmer will now win and immediately fire everyone who worked for Corbyn.

        • Lady London says:

          30 Mar30 March 11:30

          @Callum would you say the same about the idea that Britain “needs” a national flag carrying airline?

      • Sean says:

        30 Mar30 March 20:45

        As do numerous private companies. What’s your point?

    • mark2 says:

      30 Mar30 March 07:37

      I was an adult in the 70s and nothing has changed!

  • Paul Pogba says:

    30 Mar30 March 07:42

    NZ was nationalised in 2001, Gov stake sold down to 53% by 2013, last year made a profit of NZ$211m and paid an 11% dividend.

    • tony says:

      30 Mar30 March 08:19

      Singapore Airlines also majority owned by Temasek holdings, which is essentially the government. With HMG trying to block banks from paying out billions in dividends in the coming weeks, it does feel as if COVID-19 could have an impact that goes far beyond public health.

  • Jayne says:

    30 Mar30 March 10:50

    But no doubt you’re fine with the government paying 80% of the wages of the private sector? That’s perfectly fine

    • Rob says:

      30 Mar30 March 11:03

      The Government has owned chunks of two major banks for the last decade. As long as the Government doesn’t have complete control you’re generally OK. Even with Virgin, you’re probably looking at a 30%-49% stake at best.

• The Original David says:

  30 Mar30 March 04:24

  So, “Is Flybe on its way back to the skies?!”

  No.

  • Genghis says:

    30 Mar30 March 07:19

    Betteridge’s law of headlines

• BJ says:

  30 Mar30 March 06:47

  Loganair boss on the need for government support for the UK aviation sector.
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52084003

• ankomonkey says:

  30 Mar30 March 07:50

  Does anyone remember VS’s “get your mojo” marketing campaign? A government-owned airline could be Air BoJo (until he gets replaced).

• Nick says:

  30 Mar30 March 08:50

  Seems relevant here as it relates to grounded airlines… easyJet has today withdrawn all its aircraft from service and furloughed its crew. Does anyone know whether this includes all those crew based in continental Europe bases? As it’s a British company, are our taxpayers subsidising French employees based in Paris, for example? If so, can someone tell the Daily Mail? I could do with a laugh in these weird times 😂

  • Anna says:

    30 Mar30 March 09:53

    Perhaps Stelio could clarify this from his home in Monaco…

  • The Savage Squirrel says:

    30 Mar30 March 09:57

    I’m an employer with furloughed staff. Given how the scheme works on the details available so far, they will only be able to use it if the employees were already registered (and paying, unless low earners) through the UK PAYE scheme.

    • Axel says:

      30 Mar30 March 13:43

      Where did you get the bit about being low earners SS? For SSP yes about £105 per week. But for Furlough I don’t think there is a minimum earning threshold in any HMRC announcements.

      I’m keeping on 2 fulltimers and Furloughing 10 staff does this ratio match yours?

      • TGLoyalty says:

        30 Mar30 March 17:57

        Low earners should still be registered on the PAYE systems even if they fall below NI and Tax payments. Think possibly under 16’s didn’t need to be.

        There’s no minimum Wage for furloughing staff

  • Lloyd says:

    30 Mar30 March 10:37

    My brother is a first officer for easyjet and is based in Paris. As they are based in France and are paid in euros the responsibility of paying them lies with the French government. My understanding is that they have been bailed out under the same terms as Air France. Certainly the British government has nothing to do with them.

    • Spaghetti Town says:

      30 Mar30 March 13:40

      Good

    • the_real_a says:

      30 Mar30 March 14:12

      I think his point was more – are EU crews flying routes that would otherwise be flown by UK based aircraft?

• Marcw says:

  30 Mar30 March 08:54

  The Telegraph crating opinion….

  Obviously, it’s not going to happen.

• mvcvz says:

  30 Mar30 March 10:19

  Are the crates heavy?

• ADS says:

  30 Mar30 March 10:51

  “Flybe was also not brought down by coronavirus – the virus was simply the final punch at the end of a multi-round fight.”

  in other words – a non profitable airline in pre C19 days and years is not going to magically become a profitable business post C19 !

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