Almost 6,300 flights were canceled worldwide by airlines for this Christmas weekend, due to the Omicron variant and cases of contamination among pilots, flight attendants and other staff. These cancellations fall to “worst moment”, deplores Sunday, December 26 Xavier Tytelman at the microphone of franceinfo.
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“Before the crisis, on average over the year, we made about an average of 10,000 flights per day. There, at a peak, it rose to 30,000 or 50,000, explains the former aviator, who became an aeronautical consultant, who estimates flight cancellations at “at least 10 to 15% of trips “. A very large number, “especially during the holidays, during which we hope to make up for this period which is very difficult for the airline sector”, he emphasizes.
“The planes are starting to empty because there are sick people. This is an opportunity for companies to regroup certain flights: rather than having two flights 50% full, they make one 100% full. For some companies it is even more profitable to organize themselves like this “, explains the former soldier, adding however that the companies “lose some money on freight transportation”.
Xavier Tytelman adds that with the reopening of borders, “we were breaking records, because people want to travel”. He notably cites the examples of Algeria and the United States, “countries to which people have not been able to travel for a very long time”. These destinations that are closing “it is catastrophic from a financial point of view”, points out the consultant. He explains that the airlines “were hoping for a quick exit from the crisis and finally, we are starting again in the red”.
According to him, “we hoped to have passed the crisis in 2023 or 2024, but maybe it will be another year or two postponed“Another factor holding back the sector’s economic recovery is that”doubts set in among passengers, they do not know if it is worth buying tickets for the spring. We are starting to see this recovery breaking down“.
Xavier Tytelman, however, wants to be reassuring, “logically, there will be no other bankruptcies, since for the last two years, all fragile companies have already disappeared“. He also assures that airlines should no longer need state aid, even though”some may ask to postpone the start of repayments“.