Qatar Airways was running low on cash in late March 2020 and warned that it would need help from the Qatari state to keep going, even as it kept flying while rivals grounded their fleets. The state-owned carrier’s chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said the airline had enough money for only a short stretch.
“We have enough cash to take us through a very short period of time,” Al Baker told Reuters by telephone. The airline had already said that month that it was drawing down its cash reserves and would eventually turn to the government for aid.
Al Baker framed the crisis as a contest of “survival of the fittest”. Revenue had fallen by roughly 80 per cent over recent weeks, he said, yet Qatar Airways was still serving about 75 destinations and casting itself as the one international airline able to get stranded passengers home.
The industry’s numbers were grim. The trade body IATA estimated that governments would need roughly $200 billion in emergency bailouts to keep otherwise sound airlines from collapsing. Qatar Airways had lost $639 million in 2019, which it attributed to a Saudi-led blockade, higher fuel prices and currency swings.
The group employed 46,684 people as of March 2019, and its request for support placed it alongside a long queue of carriers asking governments to intervene as the pandemic emptied the skies.
Sources
- Coronavirus: Qatar Airways warns of 'substantial' job losses | Middle East Eye
- Qatar Airways Chief Executive Says Cash is Fast Running Out But Airline Will Continue Flying
