Air travel has been one of the hardest-hit industries in the
time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Flight cancellations, compounded by
travel bans or restrictions on international flights imposed by
countries around the world, have caused a staggering impact on the
global airline industry, driving airlines into substantial defaults
of their contractual obligations, if not technical insolvency.
More than 140 of the 195 countries in the world have taken
drastic measures, including imposing full lockdowns, shutting down
airports, imposing travel restrictions and completely sealing their
borders, in a desperate attempt to "flatten the
curve" and to contain the COVID-19 pandemic1.
Airlines have had to ground their flights causing the plummeting
of shares2 where airline share
prices are experiencing greater decline than during the SARS crisis
in 2002/2003.
