As the last Qantas A380 to be refurbished flies straight out into the desert we have to ask how long it will be before we see that aircraft in service again, if ever.
Meanwhile on Friday (Sept.25), easyJet’s Balpa (UK pilots’ union) union rep single-handedly blew a fair-few easyJet pilots clean out of the skies. The rep made a presentation to easyJet pilots following a meeting with easyJet management, where the easyJet captain and union rep, are reported to have said: "I think the easiest way to put it is that the company is hanging by a thread. The situation is dire… If we don't have a good summer next summer and make a considerable amount of money, we really are going to be out of a job."
The recording comes from the presentation, which was given by the union officials to their members as part of a process to encourage them to take up the airline's offer of part-time working in order to save jobs. Instead someone on that distribution list give the recording to the BBC which published it at once online. The headline put pressure on easyJet shares at once on Friday, falling to 483.18 at one point. At the time of writing, EZJ shares are trading at 493.10. The shares have lost nearly half their value since the June 5 peak of 891.20 in 2020, which in itself is half the value of shares pre COVID-19 Maybe easyJet management should look at revising the offer made to pilots now that shares have taken a beating?
easyJet placed around 80% of its pilots on the government's furlough scheme, and secured a £600 million loan from the UK Treasury's emergency coronavirus fund. In May, the airline announced that it planned to lay off up to 4,500 staff across Europe. On top of this, lessors have been undertaking a number of sale and leaseback deals and that process is still underway with more aircraft on the SLB block.
The leak came as Balpa announced, also on Friday, that it had reached agreement with easyJet to avoid any compulsory redundancies. Sixty pilots have left voluntarily, while 1,500 have opted for part-time working, around 75% of all pilots at the airline.
EasyJet has not moved through this crisis as easily as Ryanair and Wizz and it has to be mentioned that easyJet has less of a buffer in terms of cash and assets than both Ryanair and Wizz and as such it is without doubt the weakest of the three airlines. But the actions taken thus far do put easyJet in a good position for the post COVID-19 market, and the lessors will be there to assist in increasing the fleet (by around 8% will be required within two years) over the coming years enabling easyJet to catch back up with Wizz and Ryanair in the coming battle for market share. Will easyJet have terrible trouble during the dark winter of 2020/21? Yes, but then so too will all other airlines. And, of the three airlines mentioned above, it is true to add that easyJet remains the most popular brand, which will count for a great deal on the other side of all this.