Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 9 February 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Issues Facing the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Evan Cullen:

I was involved in the restructuring negotiations following the tragic events of 11 September 2001. I was also involved in restructuring negotiations following the economic crisis in 2008 and 2009. This is, by a multiplier of ten, far more serious. All those crises had certainty about their ending and about what needed to be done to fix the problems. The uncertainty created by this crisis is extraordinary. In the context of having an entire summer cancelled after the previous one being cancelled, no airline in the world structured its finances around being able to go for two years without revenue and still pay its obligations to the aircraft lessors. That is where the big cash drain lies. Aircraft are extraordinarily expensive. When they are not in operation and making money, they are very expensive indeed. Paying those leases is what will pull us down.

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