Tigerair Australia has suspended all operations from March 25, as part of deeper capacity cuts by its parent Virgin Australia. The carrier cited “expanded travel restrictions imposed by the federal and state govts and territories” as the reason behind its grounding. Virgin Australia says in a stock-exchange disclosure that following the suspension, it will “commence consultation” on a proposal to close Tigerair’s pilot base in Melbourne. Tigerair’s pilot representatives had scheduled a meeting “to talk further with the company about the details”, according to a note that was sent by the representatives to the Australian Federation of Air Pilots following Virgin’s announcement. The note adds that all Tigerair pilots are to be made redundant. <br/>
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Malaysia’s AirAsia Group is weighing options for its long-haul unit AirAsia X including introducing a financial investor to help shore up the unit’s finances, according to people familiar with the matter. The carrier is also studying alternatives including getting support from Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, or integrating AirAsia X into the group, the people said. Shuttering AirAsia X could also be one of the options, said the people. AirAsia has been in talks with investment banks about strategic options for the long-haul unit, which reported a net loss of about US$113m in 2019, the people said. The discussions began even before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted global travel, one of the people said. Bond issuance to boost the unit’s financing has also been considered. <br/>
El Al has opted to suspend all remaining passenger flights, as it awaits potential govt financial support. El Al says the suspension, Thursday, will continue until April 4. It will continue to provide rescue and repatriation services as well as freight flights, some of which will involve using its passenger jet fleet. El Al says a “streamlining” plan has been drawn up and that the airline is awaiting a response from the ministry of finance regarding support from the govt. “State support is vital in the short term, to assist the company with coping with the significant effects of the coronavirus crisis,” it adds. El Al says it is continuing to put additional employees on leave as necessary. Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion activity had fallen by more than 80% by March 21, compared with the previous year. <br/>
As Ryanair grounds its European fleet and mothballs its customer service lines, customers say they are being gouged to rebook cancelled flights. The airline has been accused of charging passengers more to rebook flights than buy new ones. In some cases the airline was charging NZ$160 for changing cancelled fares, in spite of a promise of "fee-free" cancellations. The airline was forced to cancel thousands of flights after countries including Hungary and Bulgaria closed their borders. However panicked passengers rearranging travel were met with a fare hike and forced to pay the difference. The airline is yet to respond to claims that it is hiking fares for rebooking customers. The EU's consumer protection for "denied boarding" rules require airlines to supply refunds or rerouting when flights are cancelled. <br/>
As the demand for air travel plummets, Alaska Airlines says it will slash its number of flights dramatically for April and May while the country battles the coronavirus. The slowdown will translate to about a 70% reduction in its schedule throughout its network. The airline, which announced a 10% reduction earlier this month, averages 1,300 daily flights. The projected cuts will reduce Alaska Airlines' daily flights to about 400. Flights to Hawaii, which has a mandatory 14-day self-isolation quarantine in place for all travellers entering the state, will have an even greater reduction of service, the company said. The airline plans to eliminate nearly all "red-eye" overnight flights as well as routes with the lowest passenger demand. <br/>