What do reckon will happen now, to 500 new 737MAX's that are parked up?

[onetrack]

I reckon a lot of these new 737MAX's will never carry a passenger. Someone probably needs to start up a webpage asking for suggestions on what uses, unwanted new aircraft can be turned to?

 

In the annals of poor corporate decisions, the decision to keep manufacturing an aircraft with a range of serious faults, that no-one wanted, is going to take some beating.

 

Dennis Muilenburg, step forward, your Golden Turd award is waiting to be collected by you. It's probably the largest Golden Turd award ever made.

[nomadpete]

Shouldn't bother him much.

His time with booing has probably made him wealthier than all of us put together.

[onetrack]

Of course, what I didn't mention is that these 500 aircraft not only currently contain numerous faults in their design - once they are fixed to FAA approval level, they will then be offered into a market that has then contracted so much, that new aircraft sales will be a rarity, rather than a regular event.

It would be a bold player who ordered new aircraft in the next 12 months, or maybe even 2 years.

[nomadpete]

These are difficult times indeed. What to do with 500 undesirable new aircraft? And the whole aviation industry looks to be depressed for years to come......

 

You know, now that China is starting to restore their industries, they might make an offer to buy them all at their scrap alloy value. (As long as somebody volunteers to deliver them)

 

Old mate Bex needs some flat alloy sheet for his kit aircraft....

[kgwilson]

You don't even have to destroy them to get enough scrap alloy for Bex. Just vacuum out the fuel tanks.

[onetrack]

An American news article from today (23/03) ...

 

Former American Airlines executive: $50B government infusion to the airline industry isn’t the answer:

 

It won’t be enough money to keep airlines in business.

 

(Gary Kennedy served as general counsel of American Airlines during the years following 9/11 and is the author of Twelve Years of Turbulence, the Inside Story of American Airlines’ Battle for Survival. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.)

 

The government is closing in on a $50 billion infusion of emergency aid to the airline industry in light of the extraordinary decrease in demand for air travel following the onset of COVID-19.

While well intentioned, the proposed package is insufficient to ward off catastrophic airline failures.

 

Many people reference the terrorist attacks of 9/11 as a basis of comparison to the destructive force of COVID-19.

No question, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 wreaked havoc on the country and the air transportation industry.

Most major carriers were forced to seek bankruptcy protection in the months and years that followed. However, COVID-19 is nothing like 9/11.

 

Airlines are grounding hundreds of aircraft, cutting schedules upwards of 30% domestically and 75% internationally.

Those numbers will most certainly increase in the coming weeks. While 9/11 resulted in a complete shutdown of the commercial air transportation system for several days, COVID-19 will likely lead to a more prolonged period of massive reductions of airline service.

And, when service returns, it will likely be much more gradual as passengers overcome their fear of social interaction. No airline can sustain the devastating impact of the virus.

 

Most industries in the country will suffer debilitating financial consequences from the effects of the virus. Understandably, it is difficult to weigh the financial, economic and public value of one industry against the value of another.

That said, the airline industry is perhaps the single most important spoke in the economic wheel of our country and it is imperative that we maintain a healthy, vibrant commercial air transportation system.

 

The question is how to best protect this industry against the crippling effects of COVID-19.

 

One thing is certain. A race to the steps of the bankruptcy court is not the answer. A bankruptcy filing is a powerful business tool, but works only if the debtor has the cash flow required to remain in business while it reorganizes its affairs and has the capacity to develop and implement a viable business plan.

 

Commercial airlines cannot fulfill either threshold. With a prolonged slowdown, they won’t have the necessary cash and they certainly won’t have the wherewithal to reorganize their business in the midst of the crisis and an unknown future.

 

Likewise, a one-time $50 billion government bailout is not the answer. Given the rapidly changing environment that directly impacts air travel, it is simply not possible to calculate the financial support required to maintain airline solvency.

Nor is it feasible to expect Congress to approve multiple appropriations to prop up individual airlines after they burn through their allocated share of the first $50 billion.

 

The solution: A carefully crafted longer-term arrangement between the airlines and the government whereby commercial airlines would receive assurance of continued economic support during the pendency of the crisis.

Without such an assurance, airlines will inevitably end up in Chapter 11 after exhausting the initial cash infusion.

 

In exchange, Congress should rightly demand a number of concessions from airline management.

Prohibitions on stock buy-backs, limits on executive compensation, essential air service commitments, employee pension funding, honoring health care benefits, and restrictions on overseas aircraft maintenance, are all fair game.

 

It is rarely wise to use taxpayer money to assist public companies, but this is no time for debate the propriety or wisdom of entangling government and private enterprise.

These are grave times and drastic measures are needed immediately to save the airline industry from certain demise.

[Red]

I hope the airline businesses do go extinct, it was the main spreader of this pandemic, its demise would massively reduce spread of further virii and of course it would mean that all that bollox talking about reducing the worlds carbon footprint could actually become real

 

Plus points that far outweigh millions of job losses IMO

[onetrack]

You can also put cruise liners on your list of pet hates, if the travel industry bugs you that much. But it appears your income is not reliant on the travel industry, or you would not be so harsh in your judgement.

[spacesailor]

BUT

He has a point,

Watching those jumbo,s take off with a huge plume of smoke trailing behind them.

spacesailor

[Red]

You can also put cruise liners on your list of pet hates, if the travel industry bugs you that much. But it appears your income is not reliant on the travel industry, or you would not be so harsh in your judgement.

 

 

Not a pet hate, I'm a pilot/owner and aviation enthusiast.

Cruise ships are obviously another thing needing to be shutdown

Society needs to reset, human nature means we all think we are the greatest thing since RNA came into being, we will probably end up as a short paragraph in the history of the Earth a mere blip compared even to the Dinosaurs but we can stretch our term a bit by understanding we can have a good time without being complete arseholes (I include myself in the defined realm of arseholiness)

[spacesailor]

Most cruise ships are burning Dirty crude oil, its the cheapest they can get, very bad for your lungs !.

 

That's most big ships generally.

spacesailor

[willedoo]

BUT

He has a point,

Watching those jumbo,s take off with a huge plume of smoke trailing behind them.

spacesailor

 

spacey, you should've gone to Specsavers. That was an Antonov you saw.

[spacesailor]

I watch Sydney airport YSSL.

As I live in the burbs they are high enough Not to be a nuisance, but I still see their smokey trails.

spacesailor

[kgwilson]

The older 747s do blow a bit of smoke but most of the modern high bypass turbofans burn quite cleanly. The smoke indicates an incomplete fuel burn which is not only inefficient but costly.

[spacesailor]

Don,t forget that polution.

spacesailor