Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines boss says it’s safe to fly again

The CEO of Southwest Airlines, one of the largest US air companies, insisted Sunday that travellers could again fly in safety and added that air traffic, nearly paralyzed by the coronavirus pandemic, was gradually reviving.
Asked on CBS whether it was again safe to fly, Gary Kelly replied, “It is. We’re doing everything possible to encourage people to come back and fly.”
He said his airline was taking a number of safety precautions: passengers and crew members will be required to wear masks; planes will receive deep cleaning between flights; and some seats will be left empty to allow a degree of social distancing.“I don’t think the risk on an airplane is any greater risk than anywhere else,” Kelly said.
“You look at the layered approach that we use, it’s as safe as any environment you’re going to find.”
Kelly said he believes the worst has passed for the industry  “I think we’ve seen the bottom here,” he said. “Each week after the first week of April has gotten successively better. I don’t think June will be a good month, but… we’re looking forward to July and August.”
He acknowledged, however, that things remain in flux.
“There are bookings in place but those could easily be canceled,” he said. “It is one day at a time.”
Southwest has received $3.2 billion in emergency assistance from the government and has applied for an additional loan, but Kelly said he was not sure it would be needed.He said the government’s relief plan had given the markets sufficient confidence that his company was able to raise an additional $6 billion last week.
“I think we have what we need to see our way through,” Kelly said.
“We have until September to make that decision” on additional government aid.
The federal assistance is conditioned on companies preserving jobs until the end of September.
But the Southwest chief said that unless the recovery starts to kick in by July, the company might have to order a first round of layoffs.
The Trump administration is distributing $25 billion in emergency assistance to airline companies, which employ some 750,000 workers in the United States.
The celebrated investor, Warren Buffett, ranked as the world’s fourth richest man, said Saturday that he had made a mistake by investing in the four biggest US airlines, including Southwest.
He said his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate had sold all its airline shares, including the 10 percent of Southwest shares it had held.


ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES WITH US

FOLLOW US ON 
TWITTER  @Paul65084696

Popular posts from this blog

IMF may approve Nigeria’s $3.4bn loan today

   There are strong indications   that the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund may approve the $3.4bn loan sought by Nigeria on Tuesday (today). Although the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had on April 6, while announcing that Nigeria had applied for the loan, said the funds were expected within six to 12 weeks, Reuters and Bloomberg reported that the IMF would meet over the request today. The reports quoted unofficial sources in the IMF. If approved, the loan would be among the largest allocations by the IMF to an African country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is expected that the IMF Executive Board would approve the loan having already approved similar requests for several countries. According to the IMF, about 102 countries applied for aid as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, had in a statement on April 7 said the organ...

Lagos ‘lawyer’ disowned by NBA goes into hiding

Nigerians have expressed anger at a Lagos-based ‘lawyer’ and critic, Adeola Samuel-Ilori, after he was disowned by the Nigerian Bar Association. Lawyers and activists, who took to different social media platforms, said they were also shocked that Samuel-Ilori refused to respond to the disclaimer after several days. Our correspondent learnt that the ‘lawyer’ had switched off his phones and had remained incommunicado since the story broke. A top source said Samuel-Ilori had gone into hiding to forestall a possible arrest by the police. PUNCH Metro  had exclusively reported that the NBA said Samuel-Ilori’s name could not be found on the enrolment list of lawyers with the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The Ikeja, Lagos branch of the association, also said he was not a member of the group. However, Samuel-Ilori is said to be the Principal Partner of Lead Solicitors, a chamber of legal practitioners, in the Ogba area of Ikeja, Lagos. He was also said to have filed civil suits...

MUSIC — DJ MALICTIKAL DROPS LOCKDOWN MIX PARTY OFFICIALLY

Nigeria’s Fast Rising Super Disc Jockey  @DjMalictikal 🎧 has officially dropped a high heat Mix for this #Lockdown season. @DjMalictikal known for the indigenous style of radiant on the turn table when it comes to mixing of Afro, Hiphop, and western genres. #nowplaying DJ_malictikal - Lockdown Party by @DjMalictikal via the @audiomack app https://audiomack.m /song/djmalictikal/dj-malictikal-lockdown-party. @djmalictikaltkg @DjMalictikal  He’s in his 20ties and has been able to manage the spotlight scene which can be evident in the approach of inclining himself with great associates  and big actors in the Nigerian 🎧 front, Arts 🎭 such as; @Logos_Olori, @Magicsticks, @Bimmoney, @Mandredzino and @jaypizzleproductions who happens to be his Cousin are few people he has collaborated in different projects in the past few years. @DjMalictical Happens to be a very explicit drummer and someone who has a huge drive in Interior and Exterior design plus Stage Lights Cont...