Air Canada Ends Government Aid Program
Air Canada removed itself from receiving government aid – presumably only until the next crisis – with its liquidity exceeding $11 billion and demand continuing to trend upward.
The Canadian government offered its flag carrier access to interest bearing loans worth over $4 billion last April. AC accessed just under $1 billion of the funds to begrudgingly offer refunds for canceled flights with the remaining ~$3 billion going unused.
Air Canada’s President and CEO Michael Rousseau said (in English we assume) the airline completed a $5.6 billion refinancing and is recalling employees. Air Canada completed a series of (likely legal) financial transactions during Q3 this year to generate $5.5 billion in gross proceeds, pushing its liquidity beyond the $11 billion mark.
Virgin Atlantic Looks for Funding
Virgin Atlantic is now in talks with shareholders about a new injection of cash to carry it through the winter so it can regain its former glory during the peak summer season. The move, like when college kids call home to tell their parents how great everything is going but to ask for a little cash to tide them over until payday, comes as the airline’s hope for an IPO slowly fades away.
The carrier is looking for about $530 million to keep things running for the next few months, also serving as a buffer in case there’s a 6th spike of COVID-19 (or 7th – who really knows at this point).
Delta, which owns 49% of the airline, was caught off-guard by the news. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said that if VS kept asking for money it would be forced to cut the airline off “for its own good.” Virgin Atlantic lost about $870 million in 2020 and will post another loss for 2021. The carrier has cut its workforce nearly in half since the start of the pandemic and currently only has enough staff to serve one meal per flight and asks all passengers to share.
FAA Fines Passenger $40,000 Because 30,000 Feet Wasn’t High Enough
The FAA proposed a fine of $40,823 against an unnamed passenger on a Southwest flight this past April from San Jose (SJC) to San Diego (SAN) for smoking marijuana in the plane’s lavatory.
The FAA is not willing to consider any extenuating circumstances including the passenger’s contention that Southwest’s snack mix is totally legit and that the flight attendants were harshing his mellow. Law enforcement met the plane when it arrived in San Diego and the genius passenger tried to evade the officers on the plane which ended about as well as you think it did.
The passenger also sexually assaulted a flight attendant which should earn him the fine regardless of what he was or wasn’t smoking on board. The fine was part of $161,823 in penalties the FAA proposed to eight passengers for unruly behavior since January 1. All eight incidents were fueled by alcohol or Spirit Airlines’s policies and procedures – and in some cases, both.
- Air India was victorious in the High Court of Delhi when the court dismissed an appeal from Sabre to set aside a decision to allow Air India to award a contract to Sabre’s rival and sworn enemy Amadeus.
- Avianca will resume flying between London/Heathrow and Bogota with daily service beginning March 27.
- Bamboo Airlines plans to be listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange during the first quarter of 2022 while also preparing for an IPO in the United States for the third quarter of 2022.
- EgyptAir put all nine of its E170 aircraft up for sale. Anyone in the market for one of the planes should direct questions to EgyptAir as Cranky will not serve as a middleman in the transaction.
- Global Crossing is going public, or so it says in a filing with the SEC.
- Lufthansa is in negotiations with Boeing about the upcoming B777X freighter, an aircraft that Boeing has not yet confirmed it will make. The two also discussed other things that do not yet exist, such as the German Comedy Championships and Boeing’s sponsorship of the annual Toulouse, France 10K race.
- Ryanair plans to open a base in Madeira, Portugal with two aircraft based there and 10 new routes. The opening of the base remains contingent on no one in Madeira ending up in a lawsuit with Ryanair about something.
- SpiceJet resumed flying the B737 MAX after a two-year hiatus. The airline chai’d to bring them back earlier, but the thyme just wasn’t right.
- Vietravel Airlines received $26.2 million of capital from its parent company Vietnam Travel & Marketing Transports JSC.
For my birthday last week my best friend bought me an elephant for my room. I said “thanks,” and he said “don’t mention it.”