NEWS


EasyJet’s £845m loss underlines crisis in aviation


Ian Taylor


The crisis among airlines deepened with easyJet reporting a loss of up to £845 million for the 12 months to September last week and Iata warning carriers collectively could lose $200 billion. Chief executive Johan Lundgren


said easyJet would operate 25% of planned capacity for the remainder of the year, down from 52% in August, and urged government “to step up with a bespoke package of measures”. EasyJet had £2.3 billion


in cash available on September 30 after raising £2.4 billion since the pandemic started, but said it would raise more “should the need arise”. Iata warned airlines would burn


through $77 billion in the second half of this year on top of $51 billion lost during April to June, and would haemorrhage up to $70 billion more in 2021 – taking cumulative losses close to $200 billion. The association noted airlines had


received $160 billion in state support, but urged governments to give more. Director general Alexandre de


Juniac said: “We can’t rely on a year-end holiday season to provide cash to tide us over until spring.” The crisis claimed the boss of


British Airways on Monday when Alex Cruz stood down unexpectedly and was replaced by Sean Doyle, chief executive of sister carrier Aer Lingus. Cruz will remain chairman until Doyle also takes that role. Doyle was at BA for 20 years


before taking over at Aer Lingus at the start of 2019. Chief corporate affairs officer Donal Moriarty will take over at the Irish carrier.


EasyJet and outgoing BA chief Alex Cruz


The GMB union hailed Cruz’s


departure as a “warning” following BA’s “catastrophic” threat to fire and rehire staff, saying he “leaves behind a demoralised workforce”. Norwegian Air began a


consultation with pilots and cabin crew at Gatwick. It has 1,100 crew at the Sussex airport and is seeking about 260 redundancies. The crisis also hit Air Canada’s


takeover of Canadian rival Transat, with the airlines agreeing a reduced price of $190 million, down from $720 million agreed in August 2019.


Harris ‘humbled’ by mystery donor Lucy Huxley


Agent Kate Harris, who broke down on a recent Travel Weekly webcast as she described her struggle to save her business from the Covid crisis, has been given a lifeline by a mystery donor. An anonymous industry


executive contacted Travel Weekly to offer financial help after watching Harris’s tearful appearance and later transferred an undisclosed sum of money to her agency, Inspired Travel, based in Burbage, Leicestershire. Harris, who has run the agency


for more than 14 years, said she was “completely humbled”, adding: “Overwhelmed doesn’t sum up how I felt. I can’t believe it’s happened to me and I feel so incredibly lucky as I


travelweekly.co.uk I’m overwhelmed


and feel so incredibly lucky as I know other agents out there are losing their businesses


know there are other agents out there losing their businesses.” In a letter to her mystery donor,


Harris wrote: “I’m still trying to get my head around someone who doesn’t know me feeling compelled to donate such a generous amount.” The money will enable Harris to


keep on her “relieved” sole employee, Gaynor, for five hours a week until the end of March rather than just to the end of January, and to continue to


Kate Harris on the Travel Weekly webcast


pay the mortgage on her shop, which she bought in February, until March. “This will be so important for


us when people are confident about rebooking,” she wrote. Harris has taken on a second


job, as a Covid study worker for the Office for National Statistics, to pay for the mortgage on her home, having “not taken a penny from the business” since February. Referring to the mystery


donation, she said: “This is such a relief for my mental health. “Little did I know, when I agreed


to take part in the Travel Weekly webcast, that so much of what I said would cause so much to happen”. In the message to the mystery


donor, she said: “Please know I will never forget your kindness and generosity. I will ‘pay it forward’ in other ways to ensure others benefit from your kindness.” The donor told Travel Weekly: “It’s


a pleasure to help. I hope Kate makes it through; she is remarkable.”


15 OCTOBER 2020 7


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