Assessing Post-Pandemic Options for Your Transportation Company Should I Borrow, Buy, Sell, Merge, File or Retire?1 by Matthew W. Daus, Esq.
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Matthew Daus Esq. graciously provides this detailed review of options available to bus operators. The pandemic has not been kind to many so here is a list of options available ranging from funding to sale to bankruptcy. It is intended to provide a list of options for bus operators faced with pandemic problems. MCI.
ince the onset of the pandemic-related shutdowns in March 2020, the transportation industry has been decimated. This is especially true for the executive sedan and limousine companies that rely on corporate travel and related contracts with airlines and hotels. By January 2021, ridership for the executive sedan (black cars) and limousine sectors were down by 53 percent and 75 percent, respectively, compared to the same month one year earlier, in comparison 18 • National Bus Trader / July, 2021
to ride-hailing services which saw a decline of 42 percent over the same period2.
At the outset of the pandemic, the business world expected, and certainly hoped, that the fourth quarter of 2020 would bring about a gradual return for business. Instead, the resurgence of COVID-19 resulted in the continuation of travel restrictions, the cessation of inperson instruction in many schools and the scaling back of business operations, especially
for restaurants and hotels. Even with the expectation that we will see the various COVID-19 vaccines administered to essential workers and all willing persons 16 years of age or older in the first half of 2021, the recovery to pre-pandemic levels of business will likely not take place for some time. As a result, limousine, bus and other transportation company leaders continue to adjust their business plans to reflect that the recovery will be slow – and painful.
