The politics may be murky, but if Flybe failed many regions would be badly hit
(The Guardian Business News)

Although the airline´s competitors are right to complain about the lack of transparency, ministers needed to show pragmatismIt´s easy to be indignant about the rescue of Flybe. Ministers on the job - business secretary Andrea Leadsom, transport secretary Grant Shapps and chancellor Sajid Javid - have been disgracefully unclear about what assistance has been extended, and on what terms. The trio proclaim they´ve cobbled together a splendid deal in tricky circumstances, but won´t say what it is.So, yes, it´s fair for Willie Walsh at British Airways-owner IAG and Michael O´Leary at Ryanair to rev their engines and demand answers. Why are the owners of Flybe - all profit-seeking companies, including Virgin Atlantic - begging the government for a loan if they are willing, as they say they are, to borrow on `commercial` terms? Or is a `commercial` rate being defined as one that no commercial lender would offer a company with Flybe´s troubled history? Continue reading...