steve kane • 5 years ago
So true let it fail but make sure the staff are paid everything they are owed first before those greedy top management.
Speakthetruth • 5 years ago
Thomas Cook airlines was profitable, yet the UK government let it fail and did not step in to support a viable scheduled and charter airline business. Shapps, Leadsom and Boris are two faced and have no business morals! Why are they supporting Flybe which is backed by Delta Airlines who own 49% of Virgin and made a huge $6.2 Billion profit in the last year?
Realitycheck • 5 years ago
Because Branson is in the Tories back pockets and everyone knows it!
Krishnan R. Iyengar • 5 years ago
I agree with your comment 100%, spot-on.
I am surprised that Tim sees the activities of airlines - and in this case, Flybe, as merely facilitators of frivolous flight junkets. Reading this anyone would be forgiven for concluding that the worlds' greatest source of carbon pollution was aviation, whilst the value of connecting people for business, leisure and pleasure was close to zero.
In our sector we do not hide behind the fact that aviation contributes 2-3% of global carbon to say 'this is not our problem', but the current practicality of other options for flying, and the proportionality - in respect to other emitters (the 97%), needs to be more reasonably balanced and better understood. Carsten Spohr may well be right that the last hydrocarbons are likely to be burnt in an aircraft engine, but this is not stopping us making dramatic improvements in fuel consumption across global fleets. It makes complete commercial and environmental sense, and it is in everyone's interest that we do so.
There are several serious carbon calculators out there which are highly informative as to where annual carbon emissions emanate from for the average person. Perhaps we need to start looking closer to home - and then at the family car, before we start looking to demonize a sector offering vital connectivity - both regionally and internationally.
Flybe are the most exposed airline (of any scale) to what are the highest aviation taxes in the world, and it is this that has been a major fault-line running through their business model since Ken Clarke introduced this tax in the mid 90's.
I am not here to weigh in for/against Flybe, but APD is a dumb tax that does so very little for the environment, whilst it distorts airline economics and, with it, the UK's competitiveness. It's complete overhaul is long overdue.