Random Stuff!!

[TheLocalYokel]

Airline and flight reviewing YouTubers say views have cratered due to coronavirus and it's threatening their livelihoods

The YouTubers rely on taking flights to keep their channels going but the coronavirus pandemic has put livelihoods and side hustles in jeopardy.

www.businessinsider.com

Understandable, although it might be more the general public rather than aviation enthusiasts who are beginning to eschew aviation YouTube vloggers' content for the moment.

I'm not a regular watcher of this type of vlog although I do occasionally view, usually if I have a specific reason for doing so - for example, checking the various classes on airlines I haven't used before or destinations I haven't previously visited.

I always watch your excellent output though Jerry as most relate to our part of the world (ie South Wales/West of England), at least in part. Yours are easy to find too as you always provide a link on F4A.

 

[Jerry]

Understandable, although it might be more the general public rather than aviation enthusiasts who are beginning to eschew aviation YouTube vloggers' content for the moment.

A lot of YouTube views are gained through YouTube search (it's a search engine like google), as an example 45% of the views on my recent Loganair video came from YouTube search. People traveling may want to see what Loganair are like as an airline so they go and watch my video but if people aren't travelling then they don't search and watch the videos.

I always watch your excellent output though Jerry as most relate to our part of the world (ie South Wales/West of England), at least in part. Yours are easy to find too as you always provide a link on F4A.

And i thank you for watching! I try and share my videos over social media and here as much as i can to get people watching them as my channel isn't really big enough too generate the views on it's own. Unfortunately my channel will run out of footage probably around the end of May. I have about 9 videos left which includes landings, takeoffs and trip reports and i have some spotting footage. I was due to do a trip to Amsterdam at the end of May but cancelled it due to the virus. If i'm lucky i probably won't have any new videos after that until September depending on how the industry recovers and the country from the virus and if i go to the USA in August. I have and i'm in the process of rebooking many of the flights for the end of September and October so hopefully from then onwards i'll have lots of footage to share.
I am just glad and lucky that i have a day job of being a HGV driver which is in high demand at the moment.

 

[Jerry]

Cruise ship 1 Venezuelan navy 0

Venezuela navy vessel sinks after 'ramming cruise ship'

The cruise ship's owners say the naval vessel rammed it, but Venezuela accuses the ship of "piracy".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Nigel B]

Noticed how much Air Freght is passing over us daily, Cwl doesn't get much cargo,seems logical to try and press for some kind of regular freight into Cardiff.Do the Raven lorry still travel to LHR daily?.

 

[Jerry]

Noticed how much Air Freght is passing over us daily, Cwl doesn't get much cargo,seems logical to try and press for some kind of regular freight into Cardiff.Do the Raven lorry still travel to LHR daily?.

Only regular frieght is for the Qatar flight. Unfortunately CWL doesn't seem to have attracted much in the way of regular oor adhoc freight charters, whether it's through a lack of trying, a lack of facilities or operators like say Amazon not seeing the need we can only guess but it would be nice if that side of the business increased.

 

[superking]

I see Airbus in North Wales have started making resperators from today.

 

[superking]

Mid day news today. Tougher lock down measures for Wales come into force this Saturday the 25th of april.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Mid day news today. Tougher lock down measures for Wales come into force this Saturday the 25th of april.

Coronavirus: Wales is changing its lockdown rules to make people go home quicker

The Welsh government hopes the changes will stop people heading to second homes. They come into force on Saturday.

news.sky.com

It seems to be more of a change in interpretation than a fundamental change.

Just across the estuary there are calls for the lockdown to be eased first there as I've posted in the BRS Random forum.

 

[Jerry]

Coronavirus: Wales is changing its lockdown rules to make people go home quicker

The Welsh government hopes the changes will stop people heading to second homes. They come into force on Saturday.

news.sky.com

It seems to be more of a change in interpretation than a fundamental change.

Just across the estuary there are calls for the lockdown to be eased first there as I've posted in the BRS Random forum.

I think a lot of the measures are too keep people in their local areas. Also Wales has had problems with second home owners travelling during the lockdown and potentially helping to spread the virus to areas resources are stretched.

 

[superking]

The Airbus staff at Broughton is to furlough 50% of staff which will be about 1500 staff due to airline orders cancelled. The A320 model production to be cut to about 40 aircraft per month.This is a worry for industry all over as we are heading for a resection over the whole world. Airbus employs about 1 hundred and 35 thousand around different countries.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The Airbus staff at Broughton is to furlough 50% of staff which will be about 1500 staff due to airline orders cancelled. The A320 model production to be cut to about 40 aircraft per month.This is a worry for industry all over as we are heading for a resection over the whole world. Airbus employs about 1 hundred and 35 thousand around different countries.

Airbus furloughs 3,200 UK staff

Workers at the Broughton factory in Wales will be furloughed and the company will apply for the Government's job retention scheme. Airbus will top up salaries to bring total up to 85-90 per cent of pay.

www.dailymail.co.uk

3,200 Airbus staff at Broughton will be furloughed but the process will be staggered. Airbus is applying to the UK government for inclusion in the job retention scheme which pays 80% of wages/salary capped at £2,500 per month, although Airbus will top that up to 85%-90% of employees' pay.

The Airbus CEO said they are losing so much money that the future of the organisation is at risk. According to the linked newspaper report there might be an announcement this week of major job losses at Airbus.

There are currently 13,500 Airbus jobs in the UK with over 100,000 others supported by the Airbus UK presence.

 

[Jerry]

CEO

I'd imagine that there would be some sort of help from European governments to keep them going.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I'd imagine that there would be some sort of help from European governments to keep them going.

Airbus warns staff on jobs with its 'survival at stake'

European planemaker Airbus <AIR.PA> gave its starkest assessment yet of damage from the coronavirus crisis, telling the company's 135,000 employees to brace for potentially deeper job cuts and warning its survival is at stake without immediate action.

www.reuters.com

This Reuters summary is interesting. It suggests that action to furlough workers at Broughton is driven in part by a stockpiling of extra wings built in anticipation of disruption from Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Obviously it has to be hoped that the UK will not bear a disproportionate number of expected Airbus job losses because of the exit from the EU.

 

[Jerry]

A bit of Welsh history will be made tomorrow as Wales will have a Parliament sitting for the first time in 600 years as the Welsh Assembly becomes Senedd Cymru Welsh Parliament.
The last Welsh parliament was held in Machynlleth by the Prince of Wales Qwain Glyndwr in 1404.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1257671904464338945

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Coronavirus: 'Modest' lockdown changes announced in Wales

People will be allowed to exercise outside more than once a day, First Minister Mark Drakeford says.

www.bbc.co.uk

The lockdown is to remain in Wales for another three weeks but exercise rules have been eased.

On Sunday evening Boris Johnson is to announce his policy for easing restrictions but, with the Scottish first minister insistent that Scotland will do what she considers right for that country, it would seem that the prime minister's plan will primarily affect only England, at least in the short term.

If football is allowed to resume behind closed doors in England in the next few weeks that would raise interesting questions with regard to Cardiff City and Swansea City if the Welsh Government took a different view. Would people living in Wales near the English border be allowed to pop over to Cribbs Causeway to shop (as many in the Chepstow area do in 'normal times') if English shops were allowed to reopen but not Welsh shops?

The virus doesn't recognise national boundaries.

 

[Jerry]

Would people living in Wales near the English border be allowed to pop over to Cribbs Causeway to shop (as many in the Chepstow area do in 'normal times') if English shops were allowed to reopen but not Welsh shops?

Nothing there to stop them and for many people that is the problem that there's no checks on the border. Many people have been caught travelling into Wales unnecessarily by the police but unfortunately haven't been stopped at the border.
I would be surprised if the UK government stopped lockdown for England while Scotland and Wales are still on lockdown.

 

[TOM100]

How do they know if you have exercised more than once per day anyway ? Kind of means nothing g.

 

[Jerry]

They don't really. Around where I live there isn't much of a police presence to enforce it. I've seen plenty of people out and about. Just seems like a Sunday to me.

 

[TOM100]

I know opposite me right now there are at least 12 people having a VE Day party ( good for them) I know most of them have been out today as I’ve watched them and they definitely ain’t social distancing !! It’s a bit of a joke really.....

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I would be surprised if the UK government stopped lockdown for England while Scotland and Wales are still on lockdown.

Which would mean that we already know what Boris Johnson will announce on Sunday evening if it's in sync with the WG's announcement today.

I read that the PM is in regular dialogue with the leaders of the devolved governments presumably to try to ensure everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to the virus response, so if that is the case why not announce the next measures for the whole of the UK at the same time?

Press rumours that the PM would announce a significant lifting of the restrictions (at least for England) when he speaks on Sunday appear to have been denied by various cabinet ministers, but most people know that such leaks are often deliberate on the part of governments to get an idea of press and public reaction beforehand. It might be that they now realise there is not a public appetite for lifting restrictions just yet, hence the government denial that substantial easing was planned.

They don't really. Around where I live there isn't much of a police presence to enforce it. I've seen plenty of people out and about. Just seems like a Sunday to me.

I know opposite me right now there are at least 12 people having a VE Day party ( good for them) I know most of them have been out today as I’ve watched them and they definitely ain’t social distancing !! It’s a bit of a joke really.....

There are two or three VE parties in gardens near where I live. I saw them this afternoon on my regular walk. At the end of my road one resident has disco equipment and he's set up a gazebo in his front garden. Several groups of neighbours are either sitting in their own front gardens with friends who have arrived from elsewhere or are on the pavement joining in - probably over 20 people at times. It's still going on and getting noisier as the drink takes effect.

In another road I saw seven people - all elderly - sitting in a front garden having drinks and nibbles. This was a private house not a communal establishment.

A couple of houses near us are home to sets of grandparents. Since the crisis began their offspring and partners plus young grandchildren regularly visit with hugs and kisses all round.

I've heard some local people in my area say that because South West England appears to have been affected far less than many areas of the UK there is not the same risk nor the need to slavishly comply with government edicts. My reply to them when I hear such nonsense is that the situation can change and if they carry on like that it probably will.