FlyBe in financial trouble

Louisa, Doc Martin's wife boarded a FlyBe flight from Cornwall to Spain. The Doc had to get her off the FlyBe flight to fix a serious medical problem. Doc Martin "Departure" episode: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3251312/

Maybe it should merge with Alitalia ??

Doc Martin performs more in-the-community emergency procedures in 4 episodes than most doctors do in their careers.

Im going to miss Mrs Tishell when the series ends. I think she's had that neck collar for more years than I can remember!

I am in the US, so I guess I need to find a way to watch Doc Martin soon! I am going to miss that show!

FlyBe serves Cornwall Airport Newquay (NQY), 20 miles from Port Isaac, the location the real location of Doc Martin's Portwenn.

Louisa was on a FlyBe flight but could have taken a RyanAir directly to Spain instead of connected at Heathrow.

How did a posting about a real airline possibly going bankrupt become a discussion on a fictional tv show?

I have flown Flybe numerous times and found some of their routing to allow me not to have to transfer at larger airports. I had planned to fly them from Southend to Caen in April but I'll wait before buying my ticket. I really thought when Virgin bought in they would improve financially.

A analyst I trust with a good track record for this sort of thing has gone over the accounts of Flybe and has come to the conclusion that unlike many recent failures it is not a complete basket case and has a reasonable chance of succeeding either as it is with a cash injection or through a quick administration. Time of course will tell whether this is the case. Some of the routes though are likely to be unprofitable.

A analyst I trust with a good track record for this sort of thing has
gone over the accounts of Flybe and has come to the conclusion that
unlike many recent failures it is not a complete basket case and has a
reasonable chance of succeeding either as it is with a cash injection
or through a quick administration.

From what I've read I agree that it seems like they have a chance. And it seems like the government will save them: https://news.sky.com/story/government-reaches-agreement-to-save-flybe-11908700

It's starting to look really bad for FlyBe: https://news.sky.com/story/regional-airline-flybe-in-last-ditch-talks-to-avert-collapse-11949393

Thanks for the link... looks bad... for FlyBe... and other airlines.

...and it's gone.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/04/business/flybe-collapse-2020/index.html

Now we wait for Norwegian to fall?

In the current situation unfortunately it is much less likely that someone will pick up all the pieces, although there would be a fair proportion of the routes that would be profitable in normal circumstances. Some small UK airports were pretty dependent on Flybe for a substantial part of their business.

Now we wait for Norwegian to fall?

Maybe. It might also be the last straw for Alitalia.

Norwegian and Alitalia now belong on the "airline in imminent financial danger" watchlist. I would avoid any transatlantic booking with them for the time being (regardless of covid-19 situation).

Alitalia, in particular, is engaged in the typical end-of-life behavior of a non-low-cost carrier. The company is desperate enough for cash now that is doesn't care much what happens in a few months. These are the signs:

• refunds and EU-d.261 compensation being delayed, or proposed to be exchanged for vouchers with fairly high conversion rates (€ voucher / € on your account or card).
• in an attempt to sell mas much tickets as possible (even before the outbreak of covid-19), they were systematically slashing prices on international routes, in order to always appear on top of online searchers
• such generosity extends and includes peak-of-peak travel periods (before covid-19, they would consistently give fares € 150 - 250 lower for late-July intercontinental trips)
• direct flight routes to FCO offered at discounted prices vs. indirect major operators
• discrepancy (and large one) on code-share flight pricing

These measures look as if they want to collect as many cash intake as possible. The problem is that it hurts their crucial summer profitability. All of that before the onset of the epidemic.

Norwegian is different, they got a financial deferment and are not held up to the "too-big-to-fail-national-champion" status enjoyed by Alitalia. So if they go under, Nordic travel will be seriously disrupted, SAS will make a killing on new tickets (which are already quite expensive on a km/passenger fare based) and the market will re-organize itself. Norwegian is heavily affected by the MAX crisis.

Norwegian is different, they got a financial deferment and are not
held up to the "too-big-to-fail-national-champion" status enjoyed by
Alitalia. So if they go under, Nordic travel will be seriously
disrupted,

Given that demand for travel at the moment is very low, SAS (as well as BRA, Widerøe, SJ, DSB etc) will have no problems taking care of the demand.

SAS will make a killing on new tickets (which are already quite
expensive on a km/passenger fare based) and the market will
re-organize itself.

I'm not sure I agree that they are quite expensive, if you book in advance they are usually very good value. A bit more worrying though is what will happen to SAS if Norwegian goes under, a bit of competition has helped them become a better airline in my opinion.