Originally Posted by
oneworldglobetrotter
On the other hand, BA and IAG have been unique in surviving a 2 year pandemic with almost zero demand without being bailed out by the government. Look at their peers in Europe (LH/AF/KL/TP/AZ) all of which were bailed out by their respective governments. Look at the U.S. where the government paid the wages of airline staff for 18 months and gave direct grants to all U.S. airlines.
Surely it’s the BA/IAG management team that deserve enormous credit for how they have managed the company over the past 10 years to be able to continue to operate without requiring a bailout?
BA has secured a £1B loan direct from the UK government and a further £2B in UK government-underwritten loans. Iberia has separately accessed €1.1B in loans from the Spanish Government. How is this is not a bailout?
BA used the furlough scheme, how is this any different to the US situation you describe?