# Cathay airlines



## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

Cathay Pacific to close U.S. cabin crew bases, laying off 286 staff. they said on Wednesday they only flew 302 passengers compared to 100,000 on a typical day. There is very little global travel right now. I am not sure how all these airlines are going to be able to handle this situation losing millions of dollars.

Art


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Qantas and Virgin laid off around 30,000 workers weeks ago and now have their hands out for government assistance, Virgin asking for 1.4B and Qantas 4B and why not as most others are getting help, if we lose these 2 international carriers it will be a sad day.

Cheers, Steve.


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## Tiz (Jan 23, 2016)

bigpearl said:


> Qantas and Virgin laid off around 30,000 workers weeks ago and now have their hands out for government assistance, Virgin asking for 1.4B and Qantas 4B and why not as most others are getting help, if we lose these 2 international carriers it will be a sad day.
> 
> Cheers, Steve.


I've got no problem with the Aus govt taking a financial interest in these businesses to keep them solvent, but as an ex-PM often said, 
"There's no such thing as a free lunch".


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

LOL, another said "life wasn't meant to be easy" (Malcom Fraser), I remember it well as it caused a bit of an uproar.
I penned a response yesterday that was very lengthy and prattled on as I do, trashed it and gave it more thought.
I agree with what you say in essence as the government is handing out relief to small and large businesses, individuals as well big time (free lunches that will keep the Aussie economy rolling on after our present predicament) and while these airlines are asking for help it should be given to keep these big employers solvent but,,,,,,,, given our governments track record with public sell offs and mismanagement they should keep their nose out of wanting to hold a stake or expecting the bail out to be refunded. 
Unfortunately you are right, there are no free lunches and as always the tax payer will pick up the tab,,,, in all countries. Tough times ahead but we will get through it and move forward as we have done for thousands of years. 
Thanks for raising this point Tiz, and as always OMO.

Cheers, Steve.


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## Tiz (Jan 23, 2016)

bigpearl said:


> LOL, another said "life wasn't meant to be easy" (Malcom Fraser), I remember it well as it caused a bit of an uproar.


Borrowed from George Bernard Shaw
"Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage: it can be delightful."


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Not good news, Virgin Australia went into voluntary administration today. The government won't buy into the company to rescue them. Hopefully Virgin can revamp and continue. Richard Branson said he is confident the airline will continue but who knows at what level,,,,,,,, perhaps back to low cost domestic?
Time will tell, in the mean time there are 10,000 jobs on the line and 6,000 contractors in the lurch.
Fingers crossed they can come back.
I'm sure there are plenty of companies around the world feeling the pinch in our current situation.

Cheers, Steve.


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## Tiz (Jan 23, 2016)

bigpearl said:


> Virgin Australia went into voluntary administration today


Ansett, Compass, and now Virgin. 
It must be hard to compete head on with Qantas domestically.

As most of the investors in Virgin were not Australian, it would be hard to justify bailing them out.

7 billion in debt, they may well have collapsed even without the virus.


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