Lufthansa Retiring Some A380s, 747s, A340s

@Josh. Of course this will be forever ingrained in the psyche of a generation. I don’t argue that. But I feel I my optimism is not some random wind check using my finger. It’s based on experiences we have already witnessed. 9/11 being the most recent and fresh in our minds. An entire generation still lives that day. The anxiety is still real for many as why else would tolerate nearly 20 years later the intrusive manner we endure security and the diminished level of service that came as a result. But did it stop the general public from travel? No. We accepted the new reality and got on with our lives. Humans are, for the most part, a resilient bunch. It will take some time and a vaccine of course, but to imagine that people will completely alter their perception of travel and thus do it less in the long term is far fetched at best. Will they travel differently? Sure. People will be conscious of hand washing, wear masks more, perhaps even wipe down their seats and travel with Lysol for hotel rooms. But it won’t stop them. Just like all the changes after 9/11, we came to accept and deal with them as a new reality and just get on with it.

I am sure there will be a wave of airline mergers.

Glad to see the reduction in average fleet age through retirement of the gas guzzlers, paving the way for more efficient aircraft. I guess that's one advantage of Covid-19.

I am surprised that we aren't seeing more drastic cuts: I was worried this would be the end of the A340 and 747-400 fleet entirely.

I feel some of us are over reacting. The Airlines companies are retiring planes and making quick and hard decisions because of the immediate downturn and the apparent bleak future ahead. For them a huge amount of money, loans, and interest are involved and they do not have any alternative unfortunately. At the same time, I feel that humanity would like to slowly but steadily bounce back to activity gradually as the crisis weakens. We all know that life is short and unless we are very young, we do not have the world of time to wait for years for a guaranteed safe travel experience. As an avid traveller and an optimist I think it will take about eight months for the travel business to witness a sort of a rebound. That is, if all goes well, I think the end of October2020 or more cautiously, November 2020 should see the businesses slowly picking up. Business as well as leisure travel will pick up too. So, in the mean while , may be it is time for all of us to make our bucket lists and hope and pray that good times come back slowly!