The International Air Transport Association says that January had the slowest monthly year-over-year growth since April 2010, at the time of the volcanic ash cloud crisis in Europe that led to massive airspace closures and flight cancellations. “January was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the traffic impacts we are seeing owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, given that major travel restrictions in China did not begin until 23 January,” said Alexandre de Juniac, the group director general.
AIRLINES:
Finnair is planning temporary layoffs between 14 days up to one month for its entire staff based in Finland due to the economic impact caused by coronavirus to the airline’s operations. More than 6,000 Finnair employees will be affected.
The Finnish flag carrier, which has a total staff of nearly 7,000, has strongly focused on Europe to Asia flights from its Helsinki hub and has been forced to temporarily cancel flights to mainland China and other Asian destinations because of the coronavirus.
El Al has suspended a number of flights and has estimated its losses due to the coronavirus outbreak to be $40 million. The company will be laying off 1,000 employees. No further details were provided. El Al presently employs 6,000 people.
Another Israeli airline, Israir Airlines advised staff that 5% of its 470 employees will be laid off, with the remaining employees being required to take an unpaid vacation for one week.
Dubai’s Emirates Group has urged employees at the airline, the Middle East’s biggest, and the dnata ground services company to take paid and even unpaid leave at this time. Emirates has cancelled all flights to Iran, as have other Gulf countries. It has also limited flights in China to just Beijing.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) has laid off 300 ground-based and management staff, and has implemented a voluntary separation initiative for long-serving employees and a retrenchment process.
German airline Lufthansa says it is grounding 150 of its 770 aircraft amid “extraordinary circumstances.”
NETWORKING IS NOT WORKING:
Amazon has asked its 800,000 employees worldwide to postpone non-essential travel. It is also conducting some job interviews on video conference calls instead of in its offices. Ford Motor Co. has banned all domestic and international travel, unless approved at the highest levels of the company.
The Adobe Summit was slated to take place from March 29 to April 2 at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. It has been cancelled and will be hosted online. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimated a total of 22,000 guests would have attended.
Starbucks converted its big annual shareholders meeting in hometown Seattle to a virtual only event due to concerns about the virus. The meeting will still be held on March 18 as originally planned. The party-like event which attracted 4,000 shareholders last year was supposed to be held at a theatre in downtown Seattle. A virus cluster has emerged in Washington state, however, with nine deaths reported.
The 40th Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, scheduled for later this month in Boston, has been postponed. The largest such event in North America typically attracts about 20,000 people. Organizers cited concerns about safety and travel restrictions. The event takes place in Boston’s Seaport district.
The International Monetary Fund said its spring meetings in Washington, D.C., along with those of the World Bank, will now be “virtual” to limit the risk from travelling.
SHAKEN
The release of the James Bond film “No Time To Die” is being pushed back several months because of concerns about coronavirus. MGM, Universal and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced on Twitter Wednesday that the film will be released in November, rather than next month as originally planned. “No Time To Die” will now hit theatres in the U.K. on Nov. 12 and worldwide on Nov. 25. Publicity plans for the film in China, Japan and South Korea had already been cancelled because of the outbreak.