https://onemileatatime.com/lot-polish-condor/
I haven't flown Condor this year - and I bought on Lufthansa for my next trip - because I just can't figure out what's going on with Condor. Being acquired by LOT seems to make them financially stable but I'm not sure what it will mean for their 767 fleet and whether or not my beloved SEA-FRA route is a safe one to buy. Thoughts?
One thing this means is that Lufthansa, which initially owned a stake in Condor (they sold out) did not bow to gov't pressure to take over. Pressure was there; the German gov't had made the bridge loan, but Lufthansa's reluctance shows they felt it was a money losing proposition.
I expect LOT wanted the routes and certain airport access. I don't see them carrying on anything that isn't fiscally sound; they took on a lot of debt. Expect routes to end.
If Alitalia fails this year, which I expect will happen unless the Italian Gov't bails them out (and that may end the Gov't which was elected because they promised no more bailouts) and the EU allows it, that's going to impact European operations in a large way. There are too many marginal airlines and it's only going to take one bad turn to shut down some of them.
I'd be very interested in seeing how the strikes in France are affecting the airlines.
I have no idea what will happen to the USA FRA nonstops, these planes were full I think so that says something. On the other hand the prices were higher in recent years so less appealing to me.
Interesting, here I learned why Condor was spelled with a C and not the German way with a K
https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/lot-polish-buys-german-leisure-airline-condor.html
