Virgin Atlantic Teeters On The Brink.....

[mushroom25]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/20/richard-branson-renews-virgin-plea-for-coronavirus-support

The government has rejected Mr Branson's initial overtures. He is said to be worth £4.7bn, but that's not cash in the bank ready to withdraw, but value of Virgin businesses around the world before the crisis; already Virgin Australia have succumbed. Plus only 51% of Virgin remains with Branson, the other 49% is with Delta Airlines who are themselves expecting a big hit from COVID-19
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-20/big-three-u-s-airlines-may-cut-more-than-100-000-jobs-come-fall

should the government bail out failing airlines, bearing in mind their commitment to other UK employers in this current crisis? If yes, what caveats might be expected to be applied - eg "climate emergency" actions to reduce environmental impacts?

[ToraToraTora]

no, airlines are not vital, especially now.

[Bobbisox1]

I doubt they’ll be any money in the pot for this , Virgin won’t be the first airline to go to the wall ( pardon the pun)

[Zacs-Master]

Virgin will provide subsidiaries with work, as all other airlines, which has to be considered (in terms of helping the economy to be revived, post CV). But as Tora says they’re simply not needed now. The answer to Branson and Delta should be ‘come back in a couple of months and we’ll talk’ as there’s zero point in funding an industry which simply might not be needed.

[ToraToraTora]

TBH the way the economies of the world are tanking no one will be able to afford a flight anyway.

[TheWholeTruth]

First rule of business OPM...

[tomus42]

Companies should get bailouts from the taxpayer in proportion to the tax they've paid, so if that's nothing, then that's what they get.

[jno]

cruise lines can call for money from the government of Panama or Haiti or wherever they choose to be registered. Virgin Atlantic are based here, though, so it's up to the government whether they want to help a big company out.

Personally, I think airlines will be back in business by the end of the year, but not all of them. If the government would like some of them to be British, they'll have to think about it.

[ToraToraTora]

tomus42 - I've always thought that should apply to benefits too.

[New Judge]

Careful, 3Ts, careful !!!! :-)

[Canary42]

Serve Beardie right for the way he fleeced the NHS

[New Judge]

//Serve Beardie right for the way he fleeced the NHS//

He didn't "fleece" the NHS. He took legal action because, in his view, the commissioning process for a social care contract (for which the NHS invited tenders) was flawed. And he was correct. Businesses cannot be expected to tender for contracts (the work needed being somewhat expensive) if the tendering process is flawed. Similar problems have arisen with the tendering for rail franchises and the root cause is that the Civil Service (in which I include NHS senior managers) are not up to the job and in some instances are actually inept.

I'm afraid anybody applauding the potential failure of Virgin Atlantic needs their bumps felt. It turns over about £3bn a year and employs about 10,000 people. It is a major contributor to the UK's economy, it has a superb safety record (having never suffered a passenger fatality in its history) and is the choice of many thousands of people who need to cross the Atlantic.

I don't have a lot of time for the Bearded Wonder (he's simply not my cup of tea at all) but I cannot fault Virgin Atlantic or the way he has developed it. He's not asking for a handout but a commercial loan to tide the airline over this crisis and the government should listen.

[Bazile]

It's all a bit worrying when it's close to home , as in my case .

When you have no connection to a company, it can feel all too ' oh well '

As with all companies , there are real 'Joe blogs' behind the person in the headlines

[CrapAtCryptics]

If they didnt overcharge for many of their flights they might do a lot better, I havent considered them as an option for many years.

[237SJ]

^ They don`t overcharge for their flights. I remember flying to San Francisco in 1983 (before Virgin obviously) and I paid £540 return for my flight. That was before passenger duty. In real terms air travel has come down massively in price.