Spot on and I for one do not believe the 41% figure quoted in the media. Based on distance flown only 14.4% of AIR capacity is domestic and a lot of that is flown by international tourists as you point out. Last week it was reported that 95% of N.Z. business's have amended their travel policy for health and safety reasons. Companies have to make an effort to protect their staff from untoward risk. Conferences around the country are being cancelled en-masse and a lot of domestic business travel being suspended in favour of meetings via skype or other electronic means. Frankly, travel by one's own vehicle has never looked so good !!
Yes I think it makes good commercial sense to do a 1:1 rights issue ASAP at ~ $1.00 with the Govt underwriting it. Get it done while they still can.
Virus isn't there yet. Expect that exemption to be amended when it is.
Air crew are exempt. Yes they can announce a trading halt for as long as is reasonable. Word I am hearing from AIR staff today is they are really going to struggle to find enough space to park up their planes. Christchurch and Whenuapai being talked about but may have to use Ohakea and other airports as well. 777-200's to be parked up first is what I hear.
Have to agree 100%. When facing an existential threat all resources should be brought to bear and paying out ~ $124m at this time is gross negligence in my opinion when the directors are charged with their primary obligation of ensuring the long run survival of the business. These are indeed extraordinary times which call for extraordinary measures and shareholders being paid their full dividend as though things are normal, as others have noted, sends a very bad message that's totally inappropriate.
On a more positive note I believe it is fairly likely JetStar will temporarily withdraw from N.Z. in the foreseeable future. Most of their passengers are tourists, they are known to have very poor cleaning of their aircraft and with tourists not coming in any volume it makes no sense for them to continue flying here in the short term. Qantas couldn't care less about maintaining essential domestic travel infrastructure in N.Z., (something to think about when you choose which airline with whom to book your next flight), they are only here to milk Kiwi's with their filthy old planes and as soon as they foresee a sustained period of operational losses they will suspend main trunk services just like they did with regional services.