Airlines in dire straits in Vietnam

I know the whole world is suffering and I recently heard that some British Airlines are completely shutting down because well, there isn't much reason to be open for business when no one is allowed to travel anywhere for the most part.

Vietnam is not a wealthy country, so when their national carrier suffers losses of over $2 billion it's kind of a big deal and now this company is reaching out for assistance from the government.

Vietnam Airlines is not a huge company, but it is actually a really great airline when compared to other international airlines. I can say that I feel as though their level of service, even in peasant class (economy,) which is the only class I can afford. They are friendly, I've never been on a bad flight or one that was overly delayed, and they are actually very inexpensive when compared to other similar full-service airlines.

When you look all over the world, it seems as though traditional airlines have been taking a beating at the hands of the low frills / low cost airlines. We have that here as well in a company called Vietjet and also the really large Malaysian company called Air Asia, but Vietnam Airlines offers such better service and a dash of kindness to the point where people are willing to pay a bit more for it. So even though the trend of cheaper airlines does in fact exist here as well, Vietnam Airlines actually made record profits in 2019. Things were looking up.

But then Coronavirus happened, all international flights were cancelled (they still are other than repatriation flights) and massive layoffs have and salary cuts have already happened.

You see, being an air hostess or flight attendant, whatever you want to call it, is actually a highly sought after job for Vietnamese people, and those employees make what is considered a very attractive wage. These positions were the first ones eliminated and while that seems cruel, it is easy to understand why. Baggage handlers were easily transitioned to freight or cargo jobs but there is no need for flight attendants in the absence of passengers now, is there?

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The government already owns more than 80% of the overall value of the carrier and unlike other countries, Vietnam doesn't just have a neverending source of free money to dole out the way it appears places like USA and Europe do. The government has already denied helping them through these times despite the fact that in theory at least, they own the company. It's all very complicated.

I am pretty sure there is going to be a lot more of this as time goes by. I don't know a great deal about how the aviation industry handles these costs when no one is flying and selling the planes probably isn't a viable option either since the only companies that would be capable of making that sort of purchase are also likely experiencing heavy losses themselves.

It would not surprise me if we see the aviation industry dramatically downscaled in the coming months and it will likely begin with airlines like this one that are backed by poorer countries.

That'll be a real shame because Vietnam Airlines is definitely one of the top international carriers that I have flown with and it is leaps and bounds better than American Airlines or Delta.