Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker has warned even tougher times were ahead.“There will soon be other bailouts in Europe, there will be other collapses around the world. Because of the second wave, I think it is … even more severe than in the first wave.”
Mr Al Baker said passengers could be worse off as the collapse of airlines allows for the creation of monopolies for some carriers. “I think that there will be more reduction in capacity, which in a way is also not good for the travelling public because then it will give a monopolistic situation to certain airlines that exactly wanted this to happen,” he said.In August, Qantas announced it would shed a further 2500 jobs, in addition to 6000 job losses alreadyQantas Domestic CEO Andrew David said the job losses amid the pandemic had been “the greatest challenger the aviation industry has ever faced”.
Virgin Australia, meanwhile, went into voluntarily administration in the early months of the pandemic and is now emerging with a new owner, American firm Bain Capital.as it rebranded as a “value airline” with a focus on domestic and short-haul international flights.