Southwest posted its first quarterly loss in nearly a decade and said Tuesday that the downturn in air travel that began in late February shows no signs of letting up. The airline said trip cancellations have pulled back from a peak in March but remain at levels that Southwest has never seen, as customers scrap plans to travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Southwest expects revenue to drop by 90% to 95% in April and May compared with a year ago, with only 5% to 10% of seats on its planes filled. With little revenue coming in, Southwest is burning through $900 million in cash a month. Bookings for April, May and June are weak, and they have been outnumbered by cancellations. Southwest hopes that as states ease their stay-at-home orders and some businesses and tourist destinations reopen, more people will want to fly — maybe by midsummer, the traditional vacation season. “We have decent bookings in place for July," CEO Gary Kelly said. “We just have no way to predict what cancellations will be.” Airlines for America said the average domestic flight in the past week had 17 passengers — although there have been incidents of crowded planes with many passengers not wearing face masks.<br/>
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Ravn Air Group said it would receive a fraction of the government loans it requested to weather the coronavirus, lowering its odds of emerging from bankruptcy protection as a viable business. The Anchorage, Alaska-based airline, which filed for chapter 11 protection in early April, painted a bleak picture of its chances for survival in court papers filed Sunday, saying it believed its request for taxpayer-supported relief under the coronavirus relief bill “will not be granted in the amounts requested.” Ravn applied for a $75m loan and was told it would be eligible for about $5.2m, CE Dave Pflieger said. The US Treasury Department last week began disbursing money to passenger air carriers under a $50b grant and loan program. Ravn, which laid off roughly 1,300 employees due to pandemic interruptions, said it would keep trying to get federal loans and continue looking for ways to restart its business. But “the results to date have been disappointing,” especially regarding the aid applications, the company said in papers filed with the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.<br/>
A South African court placed state-owned SA Express under "provisional liquidation" on Tuesday after the airline's administrators said rescue efforts weren't likely to succeed. SA Express, which flies to domestic and regional destinations, entered a form of bankruptcy protection earlier this year after losing a court battle with a contractor, logistics firm Ziegler. It later suspended all operations as the global COVID-19 pandemic caused demand for flights to plunge. The ruling in the Johannesburg High Court means affected parties can still give reasons why the airline shouldn't be liquidated before a final order is made. Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said: "Government is reviewing its options in all airline assets." SA Express is a separate business to much larger state airline South African Airways, which is also under bankruptcy protection and fighting for its survival.<br/>
Ryanair has changed course in the ongoing controversy over refunds for cancelled flights, telling customers they will exchange vouchers issued now for cash if they are not used within 12 months. Last Monday it emerged the airline had joined a significant number of other airlines in primarily offering vouchers for flights cancelled due to coronavirus. The move infuriated many customers who had previously been told their refunds for cancelled flights were being processed. They were told they could wait for refunds but were not given any indication when they would be processed other than a reference to when the Covid-19 crisis passed. In the normal course of events, refunds must be processed within seven days. The latest email starts by telling customers that they had previously received an email “with a voucher code to the value of your original booking.” It repeats that the voucher is valid for 12 months “and can be used for your future travel plans”.<br/>
A E387,000 defamation award by a jury to an Aer Lingus pilot was “wholly disproportionate” and should be set aside, the Court of Appeal has been told. The court should substitute its own reduced award to Padraig Higgins against the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) in place of that sum, the authority said. Captain Higgins opposed an IAA appeal over the award arguing it was reasonable in the circumstances of the case. The appeal was before a three-judge court via remote hearing on Tuesday when judgment was reserved. Capt Higgins sued over three defamatory emails the authority sent in 2013. His was the first case in which at jury was asked to assess damages where the defamation was admitted and an apology given. It followed a Supreme Court decision in 2018 which found juries could assess damages in cases where an “offer of amends” had been made.<br/>