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Given Thomas Cook, Monarch, bmiregional and FlyBe didn’t succeed...

https://www.ft.com/content/c2d817d9-...7-e5ca67ed41d7

36902BRF

Will be interesting to see how this shakes out. Sitting on six figure worth of VS points right now and one booking as well though that is likely to get cancelled in any case. Obviously given the current situation my "problem" is the least of concerns.

BBC article on this: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52066640

ahopkins767

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. BA, who have their very own version of Gringotts Gold with some Ł9bn cash in it, will fight tooth and nail to block any kind of bailout through the courts, so if Virgin is in truly dire straights it will run out of money and go bankrupt.

ihatechoosingusernames

Looking at BA’s/IAG’s accounts that pile of cash will last them 3-4 months. Doesn’t even take into account the refunds they’re going to have to process for all the cancelled flights.

Both BA and VS have tonnes of refunds going out and next to no sales coming in. Personally I think they’ll both need a bailout unless IAG come to the rescue for BA, and Delta come to the rescue for VS.

ahopkins767

I don't see IAG is ever going to let BA fail.

craigthemif

How exactly does IAG raise the money to save BA? It's just a holding company that owns some airlines.

kitbag1984

If virgin fail ba should be split up. So annoyed have a chunk of vs miles.

Jonathan Ppang

I’ve booked reward flights in December using VA miles from Aberdeen to Singapore via Paris and Amsterdam on Air France and KLM metal. Already ticketed.

Any idea what would happen if VA went under?

36902BRF

If VS (VA is Virgin Australia) ceases to be then you'd most likely lose the flights because AF/KLM wouldn't be paid (they are only paid after you have flown and obviously if VS doesn't exist AF/KLM won't be paid). Bankruptcy in and of itself does not necessarily put your ticket at immediate risk as many airlines have continued to operate through bankruptcy but if VS completely ceases to exist then yeah you most likely won't have your flights.

freakazoid

I don't think that's the way it works in Europe. Which European airline has continued business after it went bankrupt? (And that would be ignoring that there is no business at the moment) If neither Branson nor the government is going to pay up, that company is finished.

Agent69

Why would the UK government want to bailout an airline that is 80% foreign owned?

greekislandlover

It's an interesting situation. The problem Virgin have is that the British public now see him as public enemy #1 after demanding billions on day 1, and MP's calling him out in the house of commons to pay his staff with a small percentage of interest on his fortune. Branson hiding on his island and not paying UK taxes doesn't exactly help him, and the FlyBe debacle didn't play into his hands exactly, Plus a lot of people on both leave and remain sides resented someone living on an island and tax dodging poking his oar in telling people how to vote. I don't see Rishi Sunak being willing to bail him out at all. Politically, at this moment in time he'd take the populist stance and let Virgin go under. Yes, I know most of the planes aren't his and most of the cash is tied up elsewhere, but that's not how the British public see it. The only way Virgin will survive with the government being lender of last resort is the UK government pretty much owning Virgin, and selling it off at a later date once the monies lent have been repaid. It's by now quite clear that of the two options, politically the government would choose let them fail.

BA - well, it's not a British company any longer so why would they even discuss state aid? Although it is possible that the government might take the whole lot off of IAG and bring it back to being state owned - maybe.

But in either case I don't think the UK government have them as as a priority, and any aid they do get the airlines will pretty much have to pay for in blood.

SlimpyJones

It's not 80% foreign owned.

GrayAnderson

Of note, the AF/KLM sale of 31% did not go through.

Agent69

But still 50% owned by Delta?