There go the Russian airlines
As we know, Vlad the Invader swung and missed sanctioning various government officials in the US. Vlad took it a step further by signing new laws that would allow Russia to seize planes owned by US and European leasing companies that had been leased to Russian airlines. With international travel all but cut off Vlad and his government think that this action – which Forbes correctly called theft – will sustain their airlines. I don’t think so, Vlad.
Vlad and his government again stuck out. Allowing Russian airlines to steal aircraft may allow them to operate flights domestically and to the few places still friendly to Vlad the Invader. But it won’t work long term due to aircraft manufactures like Boeing or Airbus refusing to supply any more spare parts to Russian operators. The likely scenario is eventually some of these planes will be cannibalized to provide parts for other planes. The remaining planes will probably be full of parts that they weren’t designed for. As time goes on Russian airlines will be forced to cut back even further due to a lack of planes that can even get off the ground. Leasing companies may not even be able to re-lease the aircraft if they do get them back. Not only because of the maintenance issues, but also because there won’t be good record keeping. I don’t know about anyone else, but I sure as fornicate wouldn’t want to be on a plane that had been previously leased to a Russian airline during this time.
Vlad and his government really didn’t think this through. They think they’re saving Russian airlines but all they did was kick the can down the runway. In the long term it will hurt them in a way that will take decades to fix.
