LCC AirAsia Japan has declared bankruptcy. Its total debt is 21.7 billion yen. It seems to have been greatly affected by the disappearance of demand due to the new coronavirus.
In addition to AirAsia Japan, the entire global airline industry is in the red and several airlines have already gone bankrupt. In Asia, Thai Airways International and Nokscoot Thai have also failed.
At the end of last year, some airlines were even forced to cancel flights due to a pilot shortage, but in a very sharp turn of events, many people, including pilots, flight attendants and ground personnel, have lost their jobs.
It's been a very sad year for me as an airplane and travel enthusiast.
AirAsia is based in Malaysia, a company that has been offering cheap air travel to people who have never flown before, with the slogan "Now everyone can fly" written on the aircraft.
I have never used AirAsia Japan as its base airport is Central Japan International Airport, but I have flown Thai AirAsia from Bangkok's Don Muang Airport to Penang Airport and back.
The red fuselage and the red uniforms of the cabin attendants were impressive. The seats are made of leather, which are easy to clean, and although the space between them and the seat in front of me was tight, I didn't feel so cramped as it was a short flight.
I used Cebu Pacific the most among LCCs, then Vanilla Air under All Nippon Airways (ANA), which is now merged with Peach, and Scoot under Singapore Airlines. All of them have similar in-flight facilities, but their cabin attendants are unique.
I got the impression that Cebu Pacific's cabin attendants are cool, and in a typical Filipino pattern, they are more interested in chatting with other cabin attendants than with the customers.
Vanilla Air and Scoot are both parent airlines with international reputations, so I had the impression that their cabin attendants were well trained.
With the bankruptcy of AirAsia Japan, the only domestic LCCs are JAL-owned Jetstar, ANA-affiliated Peach, and China's Spring Airlines-owned Spring.
LCC, as a low-cost, easy-to-fly airline, has managed to hold its own in the midst of the corona crisis, and I hope that Now Everyone Can Fly will return as soon as possible.
