SAS Joins List of Airline Failures and Bankruptcies Since Pandemic’s Start

Skift Take

The list of pandemic airline bankruptcies keeps growing even as travel bounces back faster than anticipated. But hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars in government aid didn’t save SAS, which became the latest victim Tuesday.

Jay Shabat

One of Europe’s largest airlines, SAS, filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, becoming the latest financial casualty in global aviation.

During the first few months following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, the industry experienced a rash of bankruptcies. In some cases, these bankruptcies resulted in restructurings and, in others, they led to complete shutdowns.

The list would have been a lot longer were it not for huge amounts of government aid. How huge? Trade group the International Air Transport Association (IATA) last fall estimated the figure at $243 billion, consisting of everything from wage subsidies to credit support to tax breaks. Some governments were more generous than others and in places where the generosity was lacking, like Latin America, airline bankruptcies were rife. 

The pace of bankruptcies have slowed this year. But they haven’t stopped, just look at Comair in South Africa. The SAS filing comes in the middle of the carrier’s peak summer season, which is unusual. But with pilots on strike, there was not much of an alternative.