Are Norwegian Airlines in trouble?

[BaconAndAvocado]

We lost our Thomas Cook holiday 2 weeks ago and I re-booked with Kenwood Travel the same day.

The flights are with Norwegian who, according to a friend, are experiencing financial difficulties.

I'm praying that this isn't the case but if they go under would Kenwood Travel find alternative flights for us?

[megaflyer]

There are well documented and commented upon threads about Norwegian and their current financial issues -
Just google what Ryan air boss said (although how reliable a source he is is debatable... )

If they fold then like any other protected airline you would get your money back but if on holiday then yes ATOL would source an alternative flight to get you home.

What Kenwood May do - I suggest you ask them as they would only be obliged via protection to refund not rebook is my understanding

[tspill]

Originally Posted by megaflyer

There are well documented and commented upon threads about Norwegian and their current financial issues -
Just google what Ryan air boss said (although how reliable a source he is is debatable... )

If they fold then like any other protected airline you would get your money back but if on holiday then yes ATOL would source an alternative flight to get you home.

What Kenwood May do - I suggest you ask them as they would only be obliged via protection to refund not rebook is my understanding

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The problem with Michael O'Leary is you never quite know whether to believe him. On the one hand he is an incredibly cleaver business man with great insight into the industry. On the other, he might be playing mind games.
But as you say, there is much written about Norwegian.
And I suspect yay are right in that Kenwood would refund rather than any other action.

[lme30005]

Michael O Leary hates Norwegian and would be quite happy to see them go under. They're not in the best shape but he is just spreading scare stories

[Mickie]

Michael O’Leary has no insider knowledge about Norwegian at all. He’s also a nasty piece of work and will happily talk down their prospects endangering jobs and consumers if it helps him make more money.

Yes their financial situation is a bit precarious but the publicly available information suggests in the short term their debts have been restructured so there shouldn’t be any immediate issues

All airlines are probably only a bad quarter away from trouble even the huge groups mainly due to financial whizzes reckoning that can make more money by loading operationally viable companies with loads of debt! 😕

[MrFish]

Its well believed in the airline industry that it's only a matter of time before they fail, the only uncertainty at the moment being the actual date.

[screwy55]

A number of flight brokers have stopped offering Norwegian flights for next year - that has to indicate something is up...……..

[Lisbon]

Michael O'Leary - look at the way he treats customers and staff, obviously if you are worried do some research but I would take what he says about a rival airlinewith a pinch of salt
Rob

[McSleepy]

Norwegian had to lease in other airlines to cover their Ireland to US routes after the 737 max planes were suspended.

They have now announced that they will stop these routes.

However the 737 max was only about 10% of their fleet not sure if this is enough to put them into financial difficulties.

Ryanair have 135 of the 737 max on order but will not be able to bring them into service until the suspension is lifted.

[thatdavieguy]

Norwegian managed to agree a 2 year delay with bondholders, they are sound for now.

Once the 737 max and dreamliner issues are fixed, Norwegian are compensated then they can focus on growth again.