Airline industry in dire need of government aid

Australia’s Qantas is the latest global airline to cancel its international flights. Germany’s Lufthansa is also grounding temporarily 700 of its 763 aircraft, telling employees to go on leave and will not pay dividends this year. Singapore Airlines has cut its capacity by half while Scandinavian Airlines will cut most of its flights and will lay off 90% or 10,000 of its workforce.

THERE is nothing airlines can do to get people to fly with them. Demand is just drying up.

With so many countries closing off their borders to foreigners and placing travel restrictions, even discounted airfare doesn’t mean much. Air travel is no longer a priority as even corporations are restricting their executives from travelling to stop the spread of the virus. They are opting for video conferencing instead.