Flybe goes into administration

Thu, 05 Mar 2020

Flybe has gone into administration after the regional airline struggled to raise funds, and bookings dropped off due to coronavirus.

One of Britain's largest airlines, Flybe entered administration just after 3am on Thursday, with all flights grounded and the business having ceased trading "with immediate effect".

The official announcement came less than three hours after an email from Flybe boss Mark Anderson, seen by Sky News, told the airline's 2,000 staff it was "shortly being put into administration" as he blamed its final collapse on a lack of bookings due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Accountancy firm Ernst & Young (EY) has been appointed as administrators to the airline that carried about eight million passengers a year between 56 airports in the UK and Europe over 40 years, under various guises.

Passengers due to fly with the airline have been told to not travel to the airport unless an alternative flight with another airline has been booked.

"Flybe is unfortunately not able to arrange alternative flights for passengers," a message on the airline's former website said.

Staff on Wednesday's final flights were said to be in tears ahead of the confirmation they had no jobs to go to a few hours later.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the government is "absolutely gutted, really".

"We really tried to do everything we could back at the turn of the year but unfortunately though, with the situation that's developed with coronavirus, an already weak company just hasn't been able to survive," he said.

He said the government has been speaking to regional airports around the UK and working with other airlines to "try to make sure we get those routes filled just as quickly as possible" after airports expressed concerns they would have few flights left without Flybe.

Mr Shapps said the government has asked for assistance from travel, coach, train and airline companies to help stranded Flybe passengers.

He noted that while the collapse of Thomas Cook last September meant the UK's biggest ever peacetime repatriation, Flybe's routes are largely domestic and not many Flybe customers are abroad at this time of year. Those who are will be given assistance by other airlines, he said.

In the final hours of Wednesday, Flybe's website stopped working, just showing an error message which said the link is "no longer live".

Flybe planes at airports including Edinburgh were not being refuelled and engineers were being laid off.

The company had made a renewed plea for ministers to provide emergency financial support after the company's already fragile situation was made worse by a "collapse" in bookings due to coronavirus, one insider said.

Brian Strutton, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA), said the airline's owners, who took over a year ago, and the government "connived to walk away" and accused other airlines of going "out of their way to push Flybe over the brink".

"Flybe staff will feel disgusted at this betrayal and these broken promises," he said.

"What happened to shareholders' promises of a bright future as 'Virgin Connect'? What happened to the government rescue deal?"

Oliver Richardson, national officer for union Unite, said its members "and the entire staff at Flybe" will be feeling angry and confused" about how the airline was allowed to collapse.

He said it was "outrageous" the government had not learnt from the collapse of Monarch and Thomas Cook.

Flybe boss Mr Anderson's letter warning staff added: "It's with enormous sadness and a deep feeling of sorrow that I share the upsetting news that Flybe is shortly being put into administration.

"Despite every effort, we now have no alternative - having failed to find a feasible solution to allow us to keep trading.

"While our shareholders and the leadership team have worked with the government and key suppliers to try to get the funding and support needed, this has not materialised.

"The coronavirus has impacted both our shareholders and ourselves and has put additional pressure on an already difficult situation.

"I am very sorry that we have not been able to secure the funding needed to continue to deliver our turnaround plan."

Mr Anderson, who had only been chief executive for eight months, apologised to staff, saying he appreciates "how distressing this news is and the shock and numbness that you will be feeling".

Flybe is said to have requested government support in recent days, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

But the crisis around the virus came after the company had already asked for a state loan, which appeared to have been rejected.

© Sky News 2020

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