London (AFP)
British airline EasyJet said Monday it will immobilize its entire fleet for an indefinite period due to the coronavirus pandemic and the many European countries in containment.
It had already announced ten days ago that it would keep the majority of its planes on the ground because of the paralysis of world traffic.
"In recent days EasyJet has participated in the repatriation of customers with 650 flights to date to bring home more than 45,000 customers", the last having taken place on Sunday, said the company at a low price in a statement.
"We will continue to work with the authorities to set up additional rescue flights as requested," she added.
"At this stage there is no certainty on the date on which commercial flights can start again," said Easyjet, who said that he would continue to do everything to reduce his cost structure in order to cope with the economic impact of the pandemic, keep planes "taking away a significant cost" on the ground.
The carrier claims to have healthy accounts and says it has found an agreement with the unions for cabin crew to go on leave. "The agreement will be effective from April 1 for two months and crews will be paid 80% of their average salary thanks to the system put in place by the government to maintain jobs."
The airline industry is going through the worst crisis in its history because of the pandemic which in the space of a few weeks has forced the companies to suspend the major part, even all their flight program.
Boris Johnson's government has for the moment indicated that a sectoral rescue plan is not on the agenda and that the British state will only rescue airlines or airports if "all other options ( were) exhausted ", and in particular the use of aid to companies already announced.
The U.S. state, meanwhile, plans to buy stakes in airlines in exchange for aid to support them in the face of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, two senior Trump administration officials said on Sunday.
© 2020 AFP