Dark times for Virgin Atlantic
I heard the news this week that due to Covid-19, Virgin Atlantic will be sadly making over 3,000 of their staff redundant.
Following this came the decision to retire their 747's from service. Virgin Atlantic have now retired all four-engine aircraft from their fleet with the Airbus A340-600 fleet being retired over a month before.
The loss of paying passengers means that many aircraft in airlines are surplus to requirements. Most airlines still operating four-engine aircraft have been planning to get them replaced by newer more-efficient aircraft but as it takes time to manufacture the new planes, airlines would have to grasp on to quad-jets and then slowly draw down the fleet as they are individually replaced, but as there is a reduction in travel, some airlines have been reducing the fleet size or retiring quad-jets completely without replacement aircraft being fully available.
This is a way for airlines to save money as quad-jets are more expensive to operate and keep stored than twin-engine aircraft.
I wish the staff both redundant and active all the best for the future and that they stay safe during these dark times.
This is the last time I photographed a VA 747. 'Jersey Girl' lifts off from Manchester on 02/01/2020.
Long live the Queen of the Skies...
Dark times for Virgin Atlantic
I heard the news this week that due to Covid-19, Virgin Atlantic will be sadly making over 3,000 of their staff redundant.
Following this came the decision to retire their 747's from service. Virgin Atlantic have now retired all four-engine aircraft from their fleet with the Airbus A340-600 fleet being retired over a month before.
The loss of paying passengers means that many aircraft in airlines are surplus to requirements. Most airlines still operating four-engine aircraft have been planning to get them replaced by newer more-efficient aircraft but as it takes time to manufacture the new planes, airlines would have to grasp on to quad-jets and then slowly draw down the fleet as they are individually replaced, but as there is a reduction in travel, some airlines have been reducing the fleet size or retiring quad-jets completely without replacement aircraft being fully available.
This is a way for airlines to save money as quad-jets are more expensive to operate and keep stored than twin-engine aircraft.
I wish the staff both redundant and active all the best for the future and that they stay safe during these dark times.
This is the last time I photographed a VA 747. 'Jersey Girl' lifts off from Manchester on 02/01/2020.
Long live the Queen of the Skies...