Come travel back? Airports have the busiest days since March 2020

Airline executives said they were beginning to see a way to the coronavirus pandemic as more passengers resumed their journey, after a weekend when airport volumes reached their highest levels in a year.

Delta DAL 2.33%

The discussions of Air Lines Inc. began to increase five or six weeks ago as people began estimating plans for spring and summer, CEO Ed Bastian said at an industry conference on Monday.

“We’ve seen a bit of a glimmer of hope over the last year, but it was a false hope,” he said. Bastian said. “But it seems to be real.”

Airline shares climbed Monday. Shares of United Airlines Holdings Inc.

UAL 8.26%

rose 8.3%, while American Airlines Group shares Inc.

AAL 7.70%

climbed 7.7% and Delta shares rose 2.3%.

The pandemic came to a halt last spring. Travel restrictions and fear of contamination kept people at home and outside airports for most of the year: U.S. airlines carried 60% fewer passengers by 2020 than in 2019, bringing passenger traffic to its lowest level since the mid-1980s, according to the Bureau. of transport statistics.

Major U.S. airlines lost about $ 35 billion by 2020. But United and Delta said Monday they could stop bleeding cash this month.

It was hard to imagine at the beginning of this year. Airline executives said January and February were even worse than expected, as a large number of cases had the rise of more contagious variants, and that new Covid-19 test requirements for people arriving from abroad were a huge had an effect.

Managers said they remain cautious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still advises traveling, and the number of people traveling through U.S. airports is still half – or less – than it was for most days in 2019, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

But the numbers are climbing. Airports selected nearly 1.36 million people on Friday and more than 1.34 million people on Sunday, two of the busiest days since March 2020.

The number of new Covid-19 cases is declining, and the distribution of vaccine doses has increased. President Biden said earlier this month that by the end of May, the US will have enough vaccines for all American adults.

Some states, including New York and Connecticut, have relaxing rules that require incoming travelers to be quarantined.

And there is more to do once people get there. California, for example, paved the way for Walt Disney Co.

Disneyland and other attractions to reopen at limited capacity if certain standards for test positivity are met. State and local governments – even in severely restrictive states such as Michigan and Illinois – allow restaurants to reinstate a number of patrons.

Southwest Airlines Co.

LUV 1.75%

and JetBlue Airways Corp. also said Monday that more people plan to travel, book vacations or travel to visit friends and family, which helps compare the expected decline in the quarter.

Amy Curtis, who lives in Arizona, has been vaccinated since the end of February. When she learned over the weekend that her mother had also received her second shot in Pennsylvania, Ms. Curtis decides to book a visit.

“It was one of those impulsive things,” she said. ‘Life is so short – I feel I have to take this opportunity. I do not know when I may have it again. ”

Me. Curtis said she still does not feel comfortable traveling just for fun or vacation. According to other providers and analysts, other beaches and ski resorts are hitting. JetBlue sold more bundle flight and hotel vacation packages last week than ever before, CEO Robin Hayes said at the conference that JPMorgan Chase & Co. offered.

Bookings to destinations like Florida and Hawaii, although still lower than the 2019 levels, are holding up better than other areas, according to data from ForwardKeys, a travel analytics company. Local bookings were 42% of the 2019 levels in the first week of January, but were at 64% of the 2019 levels in the first week of March, according to data.

“There has been progressive growth in local local discussions every week since the beginning of the year,” said Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys.

The recent rise in flight bookings is helping to curb the amount of cash transport carriers lose daily, drivers said Monday. Airlines were on track to burn $ 150 million in cash a day during the first three months of this year, according to trading group Airlines for America.

United CEO Scott Kirby said at the conference on Monday that the company expects its cash flow to be positive this month, excluding debt payments. Mr. Bastian also said Delta expects to stop burning cash this month.

“We know we can not put Covid in the rearview mirror yet,” he said. Kirby said and noted that the airline remains unprofitable and should focus on repaying the debt he has incurred. But he said he expects there could be a steady travel boom on the way to a year when many people have suspended or curtailed leisure experiences.

Airline executives have long said that travel demand will roar again as soon as more people are vaccinated. While many international borders remain closed and businesses are in no hurry to resume customer meetings and conferences, executives say there are signs that pent-up demand is returning.

“Our last three weeks have been the best three weeks since the pandemic,” American Airlines told AAL 7.70%

CEO Doug Parker said.

Airports in Paris and Singapore as well as airlines, including United and JetBlue, are experimenting with programs that verify that travelers are Covid-free before boarding. WSJ visits an airport in Rome to see how a digital health passport works. Photo credit: AOKpass

Manufacturers are also financially stronger, and they have received three rounds of government assistance to cover the cost of workers, in addition to billions of dollars in private financing. The U.S. bailout law signed by President Biden last week includes $ 14 billion to cover salaries and benefits for airline workers in exchange for promises not to allow or fire until the fall. This amounts to the total amount of the government’s wage support for airlines $ 54 billion.

American Airlines also said last week that it would raise $ 10 billion by pledging its scheduled flight program.

Mr. Parker said: “For the first time since the crisis hit a little over a year ago, we do not want to raise any money at American.”

How the reopening will affect you

Write to Alison Sider by [email protected]

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