Originally Posted by
Myfingershurt
Then any corporate raider with any sense will buy said airlines, sell off the tangibles and runaway with trucks full of cash. Unless you have cash hoards like Microsoft, Apple, or Alphabet, and Amazon, keeping that kind of cash on hand is dangerous. This is not your personal household finances you’re talking about. The same rules don’t apply.
He's correct, if an airline's stock is low it makes obvious sense for management to buy it up... if they want to stay as management.
Much as we like to complain about our managers, most of them at least are interested in running airlines... you cannot same the same for the corporate raiders. Holding a lot of cash while your stock is low or modestly priced is a very bad idea, the vampires can smell that blood.
Airline financial aid (not "bailouts") is a legit and necessary action to preserve a vital infrastructure system and economic enabler. The airlines bear zero fault for this situation, and cannot reasonably be expected to have cash on hand to handle many months of shutdown or near-shutdown. Unlike many other industries airlines have very high fixed costs which cannot be readily downshifted.
Remember that when the banks got bailed out, they were the ones who created the whole mess in the first place. We are not that.