The future of Germany-based airline Condor, which started flights to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport three years ago, is up in the air after the collapse of its 178-year-old parent company Thomas Cook Group over the weekend.
Condor's chief executive, Ralf Teckentrup, said in a statement Monday that the airline had been profitable despite its parent company's difficulties, adding that he is seeking a short-term financial bailout from the German federal government so that it can keep going as an independent company.
The airline operated as normal through Monday, a day after Thomas Cook, which describes itself as the world's oldest travel company, ran out of financial road when it failed to reach a deal with its Chinese owners, Fosun International, as well as bankers and other creditors that had been keeping it afloat.
On Monday, the travel company scrambled to try to bring home more than 500,000 passengers who were stranded around the world even as its 21,000 employees learned they would soon be losing their jobs.
The British government had declined to bail out Thomas Cook.
Condor, which employs 4,900, appears to have better prospects. It has already secured the backing of the provincial government of Hesse, which contains its home base of Frankfurt. The German federal government has a history of bailing out its airlines. For example, it supported Air Berlin two years ago when it was abandoned by its backers Etihad, the Abu Dhabi government-owned carrier.
Erin Burns, a spokeswoman for Louis Armstrong airport, said Condor had informed them that its flights would be operating normally this week, but "we have not yet received confirmation about next season," she said.
Monday was the final day of Condor's summer-season flights between Frankfurt, Germany, and New Orleans. The flights to New Orleans began June 6 and ran on Mondays and Thursdays on Boeing 767-300 aircraft, which have a seating capacity of 254.
The deal to bring Condor to New Orleans in 2017 was met with fanfare by local officials who hailed the introduction of a second direct flight to Europe after British Airways began a direct flight to London that same year.
The Condor deal included a $350,000 annual "incentive package" from New Orleans & Co., the local tourism and convention promotion body, which was to cover efforts to promote the flights.
Condor carried 30,000 passengers on its Frankfurt-to-New Orleans flights in its first two years of operation, with the 2018 season showing a 6% increase over the previous year, according to Louis Armstrong airport officials. There was no data available yet on the latest season.
The 65-year-old airline had been owned by Germany's flagship airline Lufthansa until it sold out to Thomas Cook a decade ago. Even before the collapse of Thomas Cook, Condor had been in talks with Lufthansa and other airlines about being bought out.
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