Since the onset of the coronavirus, the aviation industry news has been consistently negative, whether for airline finances, passenger traffic, aircraft orders, or the outlook for recovery. A month ago, nearly 100% of the top stories were negative.But in mid-May, we’re beginning to see positive signs, and about one-third of news articles are actually providing some optimism. I took a quick look at key stories in the international press this morning and discovered that 6 of 17 were positive. I categorized key stories as negative or positive, and am pleased to see the positive’s moving up, albeit we have a long way to go. Those stories, and their links, follow in case you are interested in the details. Negative Stories 1. Nearly 44k airline staff furloughed during coronavirus crisis 2. Ryanair plans base closures and says Lauda facing “existential crisis” 3. Brussels airlines job cuts - “dreams of young people have been shattered.” 4. Thai Airways headed for bankruptcy, officials confirm 5. Farewell to the A340-600, my favorite plane 6. Delta to cut Boeing 717 fleet 7. BA cabin crew pay slashed under grim new contract 8. Which US airlines are most likely to wind up in bankruptcy? 9. Ryanair CEO: ‘idiotic’ UK mismanaging coronavirus crisis 10. Europe has a plan to restart air travel. You may not like it. 11. Germany’s future without Lufthansa German Airlines Positive Stories 1. BA set to take delivery of first 787-10 this week 2. TSA data show 4th consecutive week of traffic growth 3. Finnair to resume some flights to Asia, Europe from July 4. Delta restoring flights on suspended routes in June 5. Slimmed-down Norwegian Air to live on after share sale, refinancing completed 6. Global airline capacity climbs above 30 million
