The airline industry has been one of the hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. United States airlines collectively lost $12 billion in the second quarter alone. The 5 largest airlines have already reported losses of $8.9 billion for the third quarter. History is not on the airlines side when it comes to recovering from the pandemic. After the Great Recession ended in 2009, it took five years for passenger traffic to recover. Even after the small recession in 2000 it took four years for passenger traffic to hit pre-recession levels. Historically, it takes even longer for business travel to recover which is one of the most depended on sectors for airlines. With millions of people losing their jobs, people are less likely to take any vacations. For struggling businesses, air travel will be the last thing on their mind until they can recover their losses. It is unknown how long it will take for air traffic to recover. Airlines are also worried about a permanent impact on travel. With so many business successfully using video calls for conferences, there is the possibility that some travel will be unnecessary in the future. The CEO of Delta believes that this drop could be up to 20% for the next few years. With no set time of the pandemic ending, airlines worry that every day will continue to hurt them more and more.
when do you think the airline industry will recover?
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/27/economy/airlines-pandemic-recession-impact/index.html
I believe the airline industry will recover by August 2021. This is because I believe we will have a successful corona virus cure by then and people will feel comfortable flying again.
ReplyDeleteI do think that some travel will be impacted and will be deemed unnecessary in the future. So, I have a hard time believing it will fully recover, but it will recover. People will feel more confident once there is a vaccine which will increase travel for vacations and so forth. Ultimately, the recovery will take time as seen in previous recession states.
ReplyDeleteUnlike other recessions, however, this one is caused by a pandemic. So, not only is there less money for people to spend on flying, traveling, etc, people could also be worried about safety. This might cause an even further drop in revenue for airline companies causing further losses. I think it may be more than five years, then, to fully recover from these losses because they are potentially larger than in the past.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this recession will take the airline industry longer to recover than past recessions. The health concerns make air travel even more worrisome than other industries.
DeleteI am confident that there will be some form of recovery for the airline industry, but I am unsure of how great the recovery will be or how long it will take. The fear of the coronavirus is holding many people back and with new record amounts of cases being set this past week it does not seem people will be lightening up anytime soon. It is more than just people not having the leisure time or excess funds to travel; it is fear of the virus and with no clear timeline of when a vaccine will be ready I believe these trends will continue.
ReplyDeleteI think it will take airlines long to recover because this decline was triggered by a pandemic and even after it is safe to fly again i am confident that many people will be very reluctant to fly again due to the effect that covid on a persons social behavior. The airlines will recover long after covid but I don't think it will every be at where it once was
ReplyDeleteAlthough we know the airline industry will bounce back eventually, I think it will be a little different than in the past. I think there are a lot of people that are rather stir crazy. Especially with the winter months coming up, a lot of people missed their typical summer trips so I think it is likely they will use the chilly months coming up to compensate for that.
ReplyDeleteI think the airline industry will not recover for several years. Even once we have a vaccine, national income will likely still be down for most people due to the recessionary periods and unemployment. Therefore, it will likely take years for travel demand to hit levels of where it was prior. Also, even if we get a vaccine it will likely take a year or so before the general public is widely open to using it without concern. This could delay travel bouncebacks as well.
ReplyDeleteWith the recession having been caused by a pandemic, I believe it will take longer for the airline industry to recover. People will still be worried for some time about health concerns, even if there is a vaccine, as many Americans are hesitant to get the vaccine. Furthermore, as mentioned in the post, businesses have laid people off and are successfully using video calls. The pandemic has changed the way businesses can operate. As a result, less travel may be necessary in the future as it can be replaced with video conferencing. All of these factors will slow the recovery of the airline industry significantly.
ReplyDeleteThe airline industry would take longer than what it is expected to recover. This is because if the pandemic passes, I'm pretty sure people would still be reluctant to travel through flights as a precautionary measure. This is because a psychological effect would have already taken place that would cause people to get used to the fact of staying further away from people and even further away from such industries. Some people would also get used to other kinds of travel and just prefer it that way from this moment forth which which means it would take years after the pandemic for these airline industries to get back on their feet.
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