I'm far from the majors, but our flight school closed yesterday. We were told is directly related to the virus. We got notice to clean out our mailbox and leave key at the front desk, the company is ceasing operations effective immediately. 150 instructors on the street today looking for a job. We primarily trained Chinese students and with China air ops slowing to a crawl they are unable to pay the flight schools for the training. So, we essentially went bankrupt training all these kids and not being paid by their parent airline.
Bad management by my company? Probably has something to do with it. We just bought 20 airplanes a month ago and planned on ramping up operations to accommodate more students, so something tells me my company did not see this coming.
China and Chinese airlines not being transparent about the severity of the situation? Probably has more to do with it.
How many other flight schools are going to feel this pinch? How many instructors will not be getting to ATP minimums in a timely manner to fill seats at the regionals? Is this the next wave of the industry slow down?