British Airways is laying off 12,000 staff. Virgin Atlantic is desperately looking for a buyer. Air France-KLM is being bailed out by the French and Dutch governments, Lufthansa is getting rid of planes, and Airbus is furloughing workers. The once mighty airline industry is in terminal trouble, with massive state support now required to keep it alive. Rishi Sunak hasn’t stepped in with his chequebook yet, but, heck, it is only Wednesday and it is probably somewhere on his ‘to-do’ list for the week.
But hold on. Sure, we want to rescue most industries and bring them back to life as soon as practically possible. That is certainly true of gyms, restaurant chains, car manufacturers and most of the shops (although if we are being completely honest here, maybe not Sports Direct). But the airlines? In truth, the industry has become completely dysfunctional, and this is a good moment to re-invent it.
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