Cape Blue

I hadn't thought of that - luckily I used up the last of my Virgin ones on my flight in March, I used all my United ones on a new Iphone, I had some Quantas and BA ones, I think I used one of those on a nice kitchen knife set, I also had a small amount from another airline (can't remember which) that I used for some various tasty beers - all in the last 12 months of so - phew!

civilservant

Yep I've got 50,000 Skymiles that are never going to get used I'm guessing.

Giantaxe

Mainly BA, Virgin Atlantic (ugh!) and United. A few Delta and Southwest.

scrubbedexpat091

Did people lose their frequent flier miles in the previous bankruptcies?

I can't remember as the last major Chapter 11 was I think AA but even then its been like 5 or more years I think.

I am sure there will be at least a couple Chapter 11 filings, and wont be surprised if this time around we see a Chapter 7 of at least one airline.

Cape Blue

Virgin Atlantic emailed me today about status and miles - said they were extending.

scrubbedexpat091

Looks like Air Canada is going to do some massive downsizing when the wage subsidy program ends in June.

"Effective June 7, "approximately 50 to 60 per cent" of the company's 38,000 employees will be laid off, the company said in the memo sent to all staff on Friday. "We estimate about 20,000 people will be affected."

They are currently flying roughly 5% of their capacity vs last year at this time and hope to be up to 25% later this year if travel restrictions are lifted.

Air Canada is currently burning through 22 million per day.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air...lKAY46kLAHfrpI

Currently those employees who would be cut are not working and the government is covering 75% of their wage up to $847 per week, but Air Canada is still contributing to pension and benefits which cost them $1 billion in 1st quarter, so even with a wage subsidy from the government its a pretty decent drain on cash to keep these employees on payroll even if government is cover their wages.

sid nv

I really, really want an F-22 Raptor while there are still some left.

Giantaxe

Chapter 7 and the miles are gone, of course. Chapter 11, it's up to how the reorganization plays out. But you're going to piss off your most loyal customers if you wipe their miles away, so sneaky devaluations tend to be the order of the day.

scrubbedexpat091

The devaluing I knew about, just couldn't remember if miles were wiped clean in the past during the various Chapter 11 trips in the first decade.

scrubbedexpat091

Pulaski

We've all heard of the cases where a fighter/military pilot has stayed with his stricken plane over a city, at least long enough to get the plane into an open area, and sometimes has ended up going down with the plane. .... This wasn't one of those cases.

The BBC report is a bit confusing - the pilot ejected, one dead on the ground (in the house the plane hit?), and another crew member seriously injured. .... So the Canadian Snow Birds fly an aerobatic display team with a crew of two?

zzrmark

Seems the deceased was a public relations officer, I think the injured party is the pilot. Their planes are 2 seater CT-114 Tutors.

https://www.vox.com/2020/5/16/212609...gration-agency

caretaker

The story and video are available. Watch it, and you'll see the last maneuver to try to pull out of the dive. To suggest that there was any opportunity for the pilot to do anything to make that crash happen anywhere else is ridiculous. He and his passenger ejected late enough that she didn't survive, and to imply they didn't make enough of an effort is bullshit.

Pulaski

I passed an early opinion based on a poor quality report.

I have checked the video - the original report I read made no mention that the plane had barely taken off when it crashed.

This is a different video from the one on the BBC web site, and it accompanied by a very good analysis - if you're interested in aviation topics, and especially crash/ incident analysis, the Blancolirio channel is a good one to to subscribe to.

audio

On a brief look, it appears the pilot attempted a return to the airfield after an engine failure shortly after take-off. In initial pilot training this is a no no. Sadly many have been killed attempting this manoeuvre, low altitude, no power, 180-degree turn, stall, spin.........