The recent failure of the British holiday company Thomas Cook – which owned several airlines, including Thomas Cook Airlines (MT) – highlights how an airline’s financial distress and shutdown can cause serious disruptions for travelers. The scale and impacts of airline failures on travelers can vary depending on what steps the government in an airline’s home country is willing to take to assist affected travelers, but travelers can improve their chances of avoiding these challenging situations by knowing warning signs of an airline’s potential demise.
Signs of Airline Financial Trouble The exact timing of an airline’s cessation of operations is very difficult to predict, but travelers can discern some obvious signs that an airline is in serious financial trouble. While almost all airlines experience financial losses periodically, reports of missed payments to suppliers or lessors, aircraft groundings, and airlines missing payroll are all
indicators that an airline is undergoing severe financial distress that exceeds normal financial issues. Other signs that an airline’s future may be in jeopardy include financial problems with an airline’s parent company, the withdrawal of a major investor, or the breakdown of an attempt to sell the airline. It should be noted, however, that such issues do not indicate that an airline’s bankruptcy is inevitable, as some airlines have experienced these issues and recovered from their precarious financial situations.
Keep up with the latest and dive into all areas of hospitality news through our ConvergeBlog with new articles posted each week.
Global Travel Risk Summit
Join us for this series of one-day travel risk management events held in five major cities! More info at HospitalityLawyerEvents.com
See What's New
FAA Announces Plans to Investigate Airline Seat Safety
October 4, 2019 via Travel Market Report
The agency said Thursday that it plans on conducting evacuation testing in November to determine if airline seats allow travelers to exit the plane within 90 seconds, which is the standard safety requirement for all certified commercial aircraft.
With Little FAA Direction, Vaping Devices Add To Fire Dangers On Planes
October 3, 2019 via Seattle Times
E-cigarettes and the rechargeable lithium ion batteries that power them have caused smoke or fire incidents on planes or at airports 30 times in less than three years, according to an FAA database.
How Hong Kong Protests Are Changing Canadian Corporate Risk Management
September 23, 2019 via Canadian Underwriter
Some Canadian firms have suspended or reduced corporate travel to Hong Kong in reaction to the unrest just like they did in the aftermath of the detentions late last year by China of a Canadian entrepreneur and a former diplomat, said Paul Doucet, security director for Canada at International SOS, a travel security firm.
