Bonza Airline Discussion

[TedE]

Really shocking stuff. Luckily staff other than operating crew have at least been paid for April as their pay cycles are different. Terrible for those who miss out though.

They won't miss out entirely, they will get paid eventually either as priority creditors in any liquidation/DOCA or otherwise under the Government's Fair Entitlements Guarantee.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Choice is seeking details of pax who have been impacted by the Bonza collapse. I suspect there are many pre collapse pax who were waiting on refunds that now join the ranks of unsecured creditors.

Choice info request

Also, some reportage about the collapse's impact on the Sunshine Coast here

Passengers in limbo

 

[UP4014]

They won't miss out entirely, they will get paid eventually either as priority creditors in any liquidation/DOCA or otherwise under the Government's Fair Entitlements Guarantee.

I think the issue is these people need to go to the supermarket now and pay their rent now not in 2025.

I think assuming there will be anything to pay staff is probably dreaming considering Bonza didn’t pay the previous pay period, did they pay the staff the super payments for the 12 months they were in business.

Relying on the last line of protection ie the tax payer for Fair Entitlements could be way off in the never never. Let’s hope not but that’s the way of things like this.

From what I read most Australians are only three pay days from bankruptcy themselves.

We can all learn from this, build up a reserve.

 

[Saab34]

I think the issue is these people need to go to the supermarket now and pay their rent now not in 2025.

I think assuming there will be anything to pay staff is probably dreaming considering Bonza didn’t pay the previous pay period, did they pay the staff the super payments for the 12 months they were in business.

Relying on the last line of protection ie the tax payer for Fair Entitlements could be way off in the never never. Let’s hope not but that’s the way of things like this.

From what I read most Australians are only three pay days from bankruptcy themselves.

We can all learn from this, build up a reserve.

It’s a good point. Since 21 I’ve put 3% of all my income into a separate account, purely if I happen to find myself unemployed at any point before retirement, it will buy me time, I will shortly be entering this industry so its higher risk vs my other industry. So far I’ve got about $70k.

 

[SeaWolf]

Choice is seeking details of pax who have been impacted by the Bonza collapse. I suspect there are many pre collapse pax who were waiting on refunds that now join the ranks of unsecured creditors.

What I find quite frustrating looking at all this is that even if you have travel insurance you're not covered. Every plan I've looked at excludes "insolvency" or "financial default" of a travel provider. It definitely didn't used to be this way, when Air Australia collapsed more than a decade ago I distinctly remember checking all my various credit card travel insurance policies that I was using at the time to see if I was covered if it ever happened to me.

Over the years the insurance providers seem to have added more and more of these exclusion clauses simply because it costs them to cover that situation and they don't want to cover it. It's a bit ridiculous, the whole point of travel insurance is to cover you when things go wrong with your travel, but increasingly it only covers you in a very narrow set of specific circumstances. And Bonza collapsing isn't one of them.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

What I find quite frustrating looking at all this is that even if you have travel insurance you're not covered. Every plan I've looked at excludes "insolvency" or "financial default" of a travel provider. It definitely didn't used to be this way, when Air Australia collapsed more than a decade ago I distinctly remember checking all my various credit card travel insurance policies that I was using at the time to see if I was covered if it ever happened to me.

Over the years the insurance providers seem to have added more and more of these exclusion clauses simply because it costs them to cover that situation and they don't want to cover it. It's a bit ridiculous, the whole point of travel insurance is to cover you when things go wrong with your travel, but increasingly it only covers you in a very narrow set of specific circumstances. And Bonza collapsing isn't one of them.

Interesting observation… so i jumped on google

Choice found 15 of 61 TA policies *do* cover insolvency, but usually limited to between $1500 and $10,000: Does travel insurance cover insolvency? | CHOICE

Choice includes a list of those that do and don’t.

In general, the reason for excluding insolvency seem to be the degree of risk. Imagine if Flight Centre or Virgin went bust… the cost could be enormous, and the price of policies perhaps prohibitive.

 

[RSVKanga]

Claims Bonza sold tickets to the public knowing planes would never take off

9now.nine.com.au

Why isn’t the ACCC attempting to sue Bonza for selling tickets for flights that were already cancelled? They were incredibly vocal against the national carrier when they allegedly did this during Covid, but haven’t made a single comment about this, and it’s nowhere near emphasised in the media as it was when QF did this.

Bonza employees told they won't be paid last month's wages

www.9news.com.au

What about this issue with Bonza deciding to scrap wages for April? Why aren’t there fierce union protests at Bonza’s Sunshine Coast head office like there were at QF’s Sydney HQ in 2020?

Why is the ACCC, Australian media and Australian unions incredibly biased, hostile, belligerent and bellicose towards our national carrier when they commit even the slightest of immoral acts, but are happy to let a 100% foriegn owned and heavily cash-backed business get away with behaviour and actions that are far worse than QF has ever committed in its 104-year history?

 

[MarkD]

We can all learn from this, build up a reserve.

whilst I 100% agree with this statement, for some people this is just impossible, juggling 600-700 a week in rent, power hikes, high fuel etc. I actually feel for the modern generation as many will never own their own homes.

 

[elanshin]

Claims Bonza sold tickets to the public knowing planes would never take off

9now.nine.com.au

Why isn’t the ACCC attempting to sue Bonza for selling tickets for flights that were already cancelled? They were incredibly vocal against the national carrier when they allegedly did this during Covid, but haven’t made a single comment about this, and it’s nowhere near emphasised in the media as it was when QF did this.

Bonza employees told they won't be paid last month's wages

www.9news.com.au

What about this issue with Bonza deciding to scrap wages for April? Why aren’t there fierce union protests at Bonza’s Sunshine Coast head office like there were at QF’s Sydney HQ in 2020?

Why is the ACCC, Australian media and Australian unions incredibly biased, hostile, belligerent and bellicose towards our national carrier when they commit even the slightest of immoral acts, but are happy to let a 100% foriegn owned and heavily cash-backed business get away with behaviour and actions that are far worse than QF has ever committed in its 104-year history?

Are you high?

This is not a functioning solvent company anymore. Sue and fine a defunct company? What a joke waste of time and money.

Plenty was said when Ansett collapsed....

 

[dajop]

This is not a functioning solvent company anymore. Sue and fine a defunct company? What a joke waste of time and money.

...

Agree 100%.

And even putting that aside:
1) ACCC take months to bring actions. Something that happens in the space of a few weeks is not going to attract their attention
2) What’s the point of a union strike? What would they be striking against ? They are out of jobs anyway, it’s not as if they are harming the company by withdrawing their labour!
3) Bonza commanded a fraction of a percent of overall market share, so are basically irrelevant as far as a major story goes. Not a corporation that commands 60-70% of the domestic market.

 

[justinbrett]

Are you high?

This is not a functioning solvent company anymore. Sue and fine a defunct company? What a joke waste of time and money.

Plenty was said when Ansett collapsed....

Although if officials have acted illegally they can be held personally responsible even after the company has gone defunct.

One.tel was a good example of this.

 

[dajop]

One.tel was a good example of this.

Or Doug Reid who criminally mismanaged Compass Mark 2 - although his crimes where more serious than trading whilst insolvent, a whole laundry list of dishonest and fraudulent activities associated with his running of the airline.

 

[SeaWolf]

Claims Bonza sold tickets to the public knowing planes would never take off

9now.nine.com.au

Why isn’t the ACCC attempting to sue Bonza for selling tickets for flights that were already cancelled? They were incredibly vocal against the national carrier when they allegedly did this during Covid, but haven’t made a single comment about this, and it’s nowhere near emphasised in the media as it was when QF did this.

Bonza employees told they won't be paid last month's wages

www.9news.com.au

What about this issue with Bonza deciding to scrap wages for April? Why aren’t there fierce union protests at Bonza’s Sunshine Coast head office like there were at QF’s Sydney HQ in 2020?

Why is the ACCC, Australian media and Australian unions incredibly biased, hostile, belligerent and bellicose towards our national carrier when they commit even the slightest of immoral acts, but are happy to let a 100% foriegn owned and heavily cash-backed business get away with behaviour and actions that are far worse than QF has ever committed in its 104-year history?

To state the obvious, Qantas is not the victim here.
I don't really understand why you feel the need to constantly play the victim card on their behalf. You're not doing Qantas any favours, just painting them as enfeebled and embattled.
Things will get untangled with Bonza's administration with time, its been less than a week and the nature of administration is that it's often a drawn out process.

the national carrier

I hear if you say it five times in front of the mirror the spirit of Alan Joyce appears, dangling the severed coughpit of a proposed "Project Sunrise" plane.

 

[RooFlyer]

I hear if you say it five times in front of the mirror

Every time I read it, I read it as the national virus carrier.

 

[oz_mark]

Claims Bonza sold tickets to the public knowing planes would never take off

9now.nine.com.au

Why isn’t the ACCC attempting to sue Bonza for selling tickets for flights that were already cancelled? They were incredibly vocal against the national carrier when they allegedly did this during Covid, but haven’t made a single comment about this, and it’s nowhere near emphasised in the media as it was when QF did this.

Bonza employees told they won't be paid last month's wages

www.9news.com.au

What about this issue with Bonza deciding to scrap wages for April? Why aren’t there fierce union protests at Bonza’s Sunshine Coast head office like there were at QF’s Sydney HQ in 2020?

Why is the ACCC, Australian media and Australian unions incredibly biased, hostile, belligerent and bellicose towards our national carrier when they commit even the slightest of immoral acts, but are happy to let a 100% foriegn owned and heavily cash-backed business get away with behaviour and actions that are far worse than QF has ever committed in its 104-year history?

One needs to wait to see how it plays out, and one thing the administrator will do is form an opinion on when the company became insolvent.

The ACCC actions against Qantas came months after the alleged behaviour.

 

[33kft]

News.com.au running a glowing synopsis of Bonza's business model

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/cocaine-football-clubs-and-miami-beach-the-rise-and-quick-nosedive-of-bonza/news-story/86b13b6d6d86f0ca32ff2f03ccd95b6d

 

[Must...Fly!]

One might suspect the directors have bigger and more consequential agencies to worry about than the ACCC.

 

[UP4014]

whilst I 100% agree with this statement, for some people this is just impossible, juggling 600-700 a week in rent, power hikes, high fuel etc. I actually feel for the modern generation as many will never own their own homes.

Agree, but that 10 or 20 per week over the years works if you can refrain from touching it.

I also don’t know how say a forklift driver in western Sydney with a couple of kids does it. They’re better than me.

Post automatically merged: May 4, 2024

Are you high?

This is not a functioning solvent company anymore. Sue and fine a defunct company? What a joke waste of time and money.

Plenty was said when Ansett collapsed....

Except you could hold directors to account.

 

[clifford]

Not sure if this has been posted here (too lazy/incompetent to check all posts), but this is interesting:
777 Partners’ Suspicious Airline Investments (Flair & Bonza)

 

[RSVKanga]

You're not doing Qantas any favours, just painting them as enfeebled and embattled.

That's exactly what needs to be done. They're a very small player on the international stage and all Australians should be vested to ensure their perpetual success and growth, not chronically and consistently rally against it online. Qantas have been the victims of brutal domestic events over the past four years, and don't pretend that you don't know anything about it. They're a national icon which positively resonates with the silent majority of Australia. They're not a Google. They're not a Meta. They're not an X. They're not a monster. They're not an Amazon. They're not some big shady multinational bully. It would be very difficult to sympathise with these corporations even though they may have contributed to the greater good.

But the owner of Bonza falls into the above category. Bonza's owners are a corporation with significantly deep pockets and are showing signs of serious secrecy, mystery and uncertainty from their (claimed) offices in Miami. This billion-dollar US corporation has an incredibly chequered, strange and shady history. How could ordinary Australians rally behind this company, and frankly, why should they? This already shady corporation selling Bonza tickets for flights that were already cancelled (in normal national economic conditions!) should have been met with fierce outrage. Are the people who were so bellicose towards QF when they did this during COVID going to express the same level of belligerence?