Impact of Covid on Airlines Prt 3

This meant Airlines around the world that jammed Airbus and Boeing order books, suddenly took a hasty retreat sending shock waves to the companies that supply various parts for plane assembling. The ripple effect was massive and further job losses were a guarantee rather than a doubt, a feature in industries that are supply chain oriented.

However, cargo transport business was affected positively. Fueled by deliveries of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Fast Moving Consumable Goods (FMCG’s) to various destinations, some airlines went on a spree and retrofitted a few of their passengers into cargo planes in an attempt to stay afloat. See The New York Times (May 25, 2020)

“No one was violating social distancing recommendations, though. The seats, along with the plane’s belly, were loaded with medical supplies. That flight was one of nine that Virgin flew last month that used passenger planes — without any passengers — to transport ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical necessities between Shanghai and London”.

“Air New Zealand is evaluating taking out seats on a 777-200ER, a smaller version of the 777-300ER Air Canada is converting. Both Air New Zealand and Air Canada do not have freighter aircraft, so they are turning to passenger aircraft for supplementary cargo lift.
Air Canada, Lufthansa and Iceland air all have reconfigured a few planes to carry cargo in the main cabin, and on Thursday the Federal Aviation Administration cleared Delta Air Lines as the first US carrier to transport goods in the cabin. With airlines taking government funds, issuing fresh shares and drawing down billions in loans, every dollar helps”.

Amazon and Alibaba among others contributed to the soaring needs for cargo transport through their online platforms. If there was a positive in the pandemic for the airline industry this underlines it.

Presumably, the airline business was the hardest hit industry by the pandemic. Its core function is to facilitate movement, meaning lock-downs which were enforced worldwide, consequently squeezed life out of it. Losses by airlines run into billions of dollars which will take years to recover. Airbus and Boeing who command the largest share in plane manufacturing industry are still counting their losses and will do so years to come, unfortunately dragging their supply chain with them.

The decommissioning of the A380 was sad news but coming sooner than anticipated re-kindled images of its first take off that were beamed on television screens the world over. It was the future then, that's now but going forward, it does't fit in. What was once a dream and made a reality will only suffice as pleasant memories. The same applied to the Boeing 747; the iconic plane with a hump and christened “jumbo jet” that ruled the skies for decades until recently when it ran out of favour with airlines. “The feeling of being an equivalent of two storeys high in the cockpit is nostalgic just as it was during the first flight, it never gets boring,” a pilot who was embarking on a last flight in the 747 sadly lamented. The attachment to the plane by the pilot is endearing and to lose that is eerily frustrating, but fate has it according to a Swahili saying translated to English,” whatever has a beginning has an end”.