Teetering Flybe Puts Johnson on the Spot as Brexit Day Looms

With U.K. airline Flybe Group Plc teetering on the brink of collapse, Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a dilemma.

Should the government stick to its long-held policy and let market forces take their course, or step in and help Flybe owners including Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. and private-equity firm Cyrus Capital with a rescue?

The decision would normally be a straightforward one for a Conservative administration in a country that has long eschewed state bailouts. Monarch Airlines, Flybmi and Thomas Cook Group Plc all failed without government help in the past 2 1/2 years. Yet with Brexit two weeks ...