Photo: Bonza
Australia is a tough market for domestic airlines to enter. With a large group of them all vying for passenger space along roughly the same routes, some are bound to rise while others fall. For the low-cost Bonza airline in particular, a company that only began commercial passenger service 14 months ago has already found itself on the ropes. It could be the death knell for Bonza at a point when most new airlines should be thriving.
The news came as quite a shock to a few dozen Bonza passengers stuck at airports across Australia on the morning of April 30th, as their flights coincided with the airline's voluntary entrance into financial administration. This effectively suspends all services across Bonza's fleet of four Boeing Boeing 737 MAX 8s until the results of the administrative process are apparent. At least one of these jets was on loan from Nauru Airlines, the flag carrier of the Republic of Nauru microstate. But this agreement appears to have been made null and void by the results of Bonza's catastrophic collapse, seemingly overnight.
Meanwhile, an official government hotline was opened by Australian authorities, tasked with aiding passengers and crew caught up in the biggest airline collapse in recent Australian history in making their destinations. From there, customers were dealt with in the manner of a typical missed or canceled flight, with the airlines Qantas and Virgin called upon to assist in the endeavor. Ironically, it was airlines like these two that Bonza hoped to steal market share from on the lower end of the price range.
For an airline touted as being the best bang for your buck in Australia for cross-country travel, the debacle is a savage indicator of how short Bonza fell from their goal. "We apologise to our customers who are impacted by this and we’re working as quickly as possible to determine a way forward that ensures there is ongoing competition in the Australian domestic aviation market," said Tim Jordan, Bonza's chief executive in a statement first reported by the Guardian. It was his decision to wave the white flag of financial insolvency in the middle of the night that left dozens of people stranded.
For those involved, the stress will dissipate once they're safely back home. For Bonza themselves, it appears very unlikely that Australia's answer to Spirit Airlines in America and EasyJet in the UK might not make it out of this year, let alone the decade. All the while, reports are coming in via the above-mentioned Guardian piece that Bonza's fleet of 787 MAX 8s has now been formally repossessed. As far as glamorous airline deaths are concerned, Bonza still ain't got anything on Pan Am. At least they never left anyone stranded when they went you-know-whats up.
Meanwhile, an official government hotline was opened by Australian authorities, tasked with aiding passengers and crew caught up in the biggest airline collapse in recent Australian history in making their destinations. From there, customers were dealt with in the manner of a typical missed or canceled flight, with the airlines Qantas and Virgin called upon to assist in the endeavor. Ironically, it was airlines like these two that Bonza hoped to steal market share from on the lower end of the price range.
For an airline touted as being the best bang for your buck in Australia for cross-country travel, the debacle is a savage indicator of how short Bonza fell from their goal. "We apologise to our customers who are impacted by this and we’re working as quickly as possible to determine a way forward that ensures there is ongoing competition in the Australian domestic aviation market," said Tim Jordan, Bonza's chief executive in a statement first reported by the Guardian. It was his decision to wave the white flag of financial insolvency in the middle of the night that left dozens of people stranded.
For those involved, the stress will dissipate once they're safely back home. For Bonza themselves, it appears very unlikely that Australia's answer to Spirit Airlines in America and EasyJet in the UK might not make it out of this year, let alone the decade. All the while, reports are coming in via the above-mentioned Guardian piece that Bonza's fleet of 787 MAX 8s has now been formally repossessed. As far as glamorous airline deaths are concerned, Bonza still ain't got anything on Pan Am. At least they never left anyone stranded when they went you-know-whats up.
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