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#955312 by gumshoe
27 Mar 2020, 19:50
Sadly, if the ultimate outcome of all this is the end of VS and Norwegian, Covid-19 may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to BA - irrespective of the money it’s currently haemorrhaging every day.
#955314 by LREDI
27 Mar 2020, 20:53
Whoever gets through this regardless of state aid or not, will be a much changed carrier for many, many years to come.
#955316 by Virginlondon
27 Mar 2020, 21:58
If the gov bail out Virgin - who else in another industry will want the same. After all these years and close misses - could this be the end. Already quite a backlash against Branson at present re unpaid staff. Time to see if he really cares about his airline. Many business owners will do anything to prop up their business. Why won’t he?

I would be very sad even though I now fly BA now.
#955317 by jakedonson
27 Mar 2020, 22:09
Many business owners will do anything to prop up their business. Why won’t he?

Didn't he just invest over £200 million into his various virgin companies? Personally, I can't see him letting VS go down without a fight and while everyone's bashing Branson, for asking for a bail out, I think VS should get a bail out (weather that comes in the form of a loan or not) given the sheer amount of jobs at risk (from frontline staff to the likes of contracted workers such as caterers) with the company going under. Also, as stated by previous posts, BA will likely ride this out and will leave them with pretty big monopoly is VS and Norwegian go under; and that will be detrimental for consumers.
#955319 by Virginlondon
27 Mar 2020, 22:34
He gave some cash to virgin group not specifically the airline. My heart says yes - head no. COVID-19 is going to cause the worst crash to the economy since WW2. Furlough is great but kicks the issue down the road. Many people furloughed won’t be required in July so mass redundancies then. So many people will be cautious for quite a long time in terms of movement - probably until a vaccine is found. This not short term for airlines. The recovery will be long and difficult- unlike any previous challenge.
#955320 by gumshoe
27 Mar 2020, 22:54
Sadly this is very true.

Anyone who thinks that in two or three months’ time Boris Johnson will suddenly get up and say “good news everyone, it’s all over, back to normal” is very, very mistaken.

Sure, things will get better. But recovery will be very slow and very gradual and it’ll be years before we return to what we all thought of as normal a month ago - if ever.

Of course some business travel will continue - but many companies will have recently discovered the benefits of home working and virtual meetings and realised they can save a lot of money by cutting back on expensive overheads like office space and unnecessary travel.

And long-haul leisure travel may, for a while, once again become the preserve of the wealthy given how many ordinary working people will have lost their jobs or at the very least seen their income cut.

The travel, tourism and hospitality industry will look very different indeed when we’re finally allowed to fly again.
#955321 by LREDI
27 Mar 2020, 23:11
Agreed. This will be much longer than a couple of months. We may return to some form of normality with travel reopened but the damage will be done.

It’s highly likely the world will enter recession following this and the high levels of govt debt will take years and increased taxes to clear. This will impact leisure travel.

The biggest impact as above, will be the business market. The huge growth of working from home capability and the investments being made in this area will mean organisations will seek to cut office space and indeed travel. There will always be travel and face to face is important but a focus on business travel cost cutting certainty during 2020/21 will be inevitable.
#955322 by enjoyingit
27 Mar 2020, 23:28
One hopes the health crisis passes as quickly as possible. That is the main priority. After that who knows. This branch of the capitalist tree will wither and die. Many industries will need to be nationalized. And initially there's no point in having competing nationalized industries. The whole benefits system will need to be overhauled. Supply chains will need to be re aligned, who knows we may actually have government back industries that actually produce stuff !
It will feel like a communist state for a while but in the long run we could actually come out of this as a country that can rely on itself for much of its consumption. Then gradually competition will return, albeit not run on wafer thin margins by companies that are more interested in share buy backs to boost executive pay funded by an every greedy world searching for yield. ahhhhhhh OR B. Hyperinflation, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I think i know how this ends >-(
#955330 by VS075
28 Mar 2020, 10:11
Virginlondon wrote:If the gov bail out Virgin - who else in another industry will want the same. After all these years and close misses - could this be the end. Already quite a backlash against Branson at present re unpaid staff. Time to see if he really cares about his airline. Many business owners will do anything to prop up their business. Why won’t he?

I would be very sad even though I now fly BA now.


I suspect this could be the first of several requests in the coming weeks. It will put pressure on the government as it will put the ball in their court and whether they’re prepared to let more airlines fail, though admittedly many of those that have folded in the last few years have been basket cases. When the banks needed bailing out, the government at the time claimed that by doing so averted economic disaster and protected people’s savings. By rescuing airlines (if it’s coming to that), it’s protecting competition, maintaining connectivity which will assist with the recovery once all this is over and protect jobs.

I’m hoping for the rest but fearing the worst. The industry needs competition and airlines that are prepared to operate routes profitably that others won’t touch.
#955331 by gumshoe
28 Mar 2020, 10:23
Trouble is, VS doesn’t operate any routes that others won’t touch (except maybe HAV?). It is, sadly, not essential to maintain connectivity.

And while competition is a must in the long-term, it may be that in the short to medium-term - with the economy likely to be in deep recession - the government is prepared to accept that there’s only room for one UK-based long-haul carrier which may or may not require state aid.

I don’t know anything about the law in this regard but, if BA were to accept state aid to survive, could the government impose price controls or set fares? Or insist that BA pulls out of the JV with AA to increase TATL competition? No idea.
#955346 by Annoyed Traveller
28 Mar 2020, 19:00
Why should Virgin Atlantic receive any help ? They are not helping passengers who have suffered financially !

Mr Branson - please look to refund your passengers (we have been travelling to the US with Virgin for 34 years !) flights were booked last November - way before COVID 19 took hold globally and we have been trying to claim our refund since the beginning of March ! Customer services is not even bothering to answer emails now !!! ???

This should not be allowed !

If you do receive a bail out - then you should look to refund your passengers first and not pay your executives their high salaries and bonuses !!

You will need the goodwill of your passengers if you survive this - you will need passengers when the world starts to heal !!!!
#955347 by FLYERZ
28 Mar 2020, 20:30
Annoyed Traveller wrote:Why should Virgin Atlantic receive any help ? They are not helping passengers who have suffered financially !

Mr Branson - please look to refund your passengers (we have been travelling to the US with Virgin for 34 years !) flights were booked last November - way before COVID 19 took hold globally and we have been trying to claim our refund since the beginning of March ! Customer services is not even bothering to answer emails now !!! ???

This should not be allowed !

If you do receive a bail out - then you should look to refund your passengers first and not pay your executives their high salaries and bonuses !!

You will need the goodwill of your passengers if you survive this - you will need passengers when the world starts to heal !!!!



Virgin Atlantic as is the case with other airlines and travel agents are working to refund passengers. The unfortunate reality is that because of the scale of impacted passengers from cancelled flights and intl. restrictions, as well as VS customers currently abroad seeking to return home, the customer service teams are slammed across all platforms (phone, email .etc). I fully understand the frustration at the thought that VS is sitting with your money, myself having similar on Qantas recently, but you receiving a refund will happen its just a question of keep trying and being patient. Under normal circumstances e.g. a one-off flight cancellation this would be a lot simpler but I think its important people don't lose their cool and remember that these are unprecedented times and therefore normal standards e.g. response times just aren't deliverable.

Hopefully you get your refund soon but I personally wouldn't be too worried, it will happen just maybe a bit longer to wait than you hope
#955352 by VSSCC
29 Mar 2020, 00:30
I agree. Its frustrating. I'm waiting on refunds from 2 different airlines for flights that have now passed. I know the money will come in time but for now I've just got to wait.

You need to appreciate the sheer volume of refunds to process along with all the people who are trying to return home on top of everything else and a situation that is changing daily (Globally)

You will get your money back there's no doubt in that but taking to the Internet via every channel possible will only have a negative impact on you during this already challenging time.

Hope you get your refund soon and you can relax some.
#955360 by Brian New
29 Mar 2020, 14:35
VA publicly saying that they ARE offering refunds for cancelled flights, but as far as I'm aware they are not actually doing so. I can only imagine that this is PR. Other airlines reportedly taking the same stance (saying they are, but not actually doing so)..


Annoyed Traveller wrote:Why should Virgin Atlantic receive any help ? They are not helping passengers who have suffered financially !

Mr Branson - please look to refund your passengers (we have been travelling to the US with Virgin for 34 years !) flights were booked last November - way before COVID 19 took hold globally and we have been trying to claim our refund since the beginning of March ! Customer services is not even bothering to answer emails now !!! ???

This should not be allowed !

If you do receive a bail out - then you should look to refund your passengers first and not pay your executives their high salaries and bonuses !!

You will need the goodwill of your passengers if you survive this - you will need passengers when the world starts to heal !!!!
#955361 by Brian New
29 Mar 2020, 14:45
Hi there!

Whilst you're being very positive, I'm not sure that that airlines have the intention or even the ability to pay back all the cancelled flights.
More to the point, I don't think they can AFFORD to, without going bust. Normally they'd use money coming in for new bookings to do this, but they won't be getting any.
They may pay a few people back, just to show willing, and hope that things will sort themselves out quickly (!), but I haven't read about anyone actually getting their money back so far...
I'm not at all confident of getting my money back on my May flights (booked a year ago!)




VSSCC wrote:I agree. Its frustrating. I'm waiting on refunds from 2 different airlines for flights that have now passed. I know the money will come in time but for now I've just got to wait.

You need to appreciate the sheer volume of refunds to process along with all the people who are trying to return home on top of everything else and a situation that is changing daily (Globally)

You will get your money back there's no doubt in that but taking to the Internet via every channel possible will only have a negative impact on you during this already challenging time.

Hope you get your refund soon and you can relax some.
#955362 by gumshoe
29 Mar 2020, 15:03
If your flight is cancelled and the airline won’t refund you (which it must under EC261/2004), simply claim a refund from your credit card company under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Very simple.

(Although, unfortunately, not always quite as simple for travel agent bookings. But often still doable)
#955417 by benarsenal645
01 Apr 2020, 16:24
Can't believe i am even asking this, feels surreal.. but if Virgin Atlantic do go under... and people booked their flights with their credit card, will they be able to use Section 75 to get their money back? :-(
#955420 by FLYERZ
01 Apr 2020, 17:15
benarsenal645 wrote:Can't believe i am even asking this, feels surreal.. but if Virgin Atlantic do go under... and people booked their flights with their credit card, will they be able to use Section 75 to get their money back? :-(



'Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, you can make a claim against your card provider if something goes wrong with an item you’ve bought.

Section 75 means that your credit card provider is jointly liable if something goes wrong. This means it's equally responsible along with the retailer or trader for the goods or services you’ve bought.

So if the retailer goes bust, and the goods or services you paid for cost you between £100 and £30,000, then you can benefit from the full protection of Section 75 by claiming from your credit card company. '
#955422 by gumshoe
01 Apr 2020, 17:52
As above, if you booked direct with VS you’d be able to claim easily under S75.

Unfortunately it gets a little murkier if you booked through a travel agent.

If the TA merely acted as an agent for VS, facilitating the purchase of a ticket you could have bought direct, you may well be ok.

But if your ticket was a bulk or consolidated fare the TA bought itself for the purpose of reselling, you may not be eligible.
#955425 by RyanJW
01 Apr 2020, 19:41
I'm based in the US, and have a UC trip booked for August/September time. Unfortunately it was paid with my US debit card so I think I'm going to be out of luck if VS goes under.

Kinda written off the money right now as I don't see a way to get it back, plus it being in August/September it would be too far out to make any plans or be able to request a refund. Fingers crossed VS survives but this is a crisis of epic proportion so not hoping up much hope.
#955426 by gumshoe
01 Apr 2020, 20:07
You’d need to speak to your bank.

UK banks do operate a chargeback scheme for debit card payments although it’s voluntary and not enshrined in law like it is for credit card payments.

I’ve no idea if US banks offer similar though.
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