More than 2 million people were screened at U.S. airports on Friday and Saturday, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Friday was only the second time since mid-March that daily airport screenings topped 1 million.
Regulators around the world grounded the Max in March 2019, after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet. That happened less than five months after another Max flown by Indonesia’s Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea.
With airlines imposing mandatory mask requirements on flights amid the coronavirus pandemic, many unhappy passengers have made headlines for being removed from flights for refusing to wear a mask.
The pain is evident across the globe, where airlines have rescinded earlier forecasts that called for traffic to gradually increase toward normal levels during the fourth quarter.
Combined with earlier losses reported by Delta and United, the four largest U.S. airlines have lost at least $10 billion in each of the last two quarters. A recent uptick in passengers, however modest, has provided some hope.
People have incrementally returned to the skies, but in far fewer numbers than normal. The seven-day average as of Sunday was 871,513, or 35.6% of the equivalent week last year.
Aviation leaders had hoped to be included in a broader pandemic relief package, but once it became clear that the White House was done negotiating, industry leaders quickly shifted focus to a stand-alone bill.
House Democrats on Friday proposed a new $28.8 billion bailout for the airline industry after the carriers began furloughs of more than 32,000 workers to cut costs during a pandemic that has devastated air travel.
U.S. airlines said they will begin furloughing tens of thousands of employees on Thursday, but they left open the possibility that workers could be called back if a federal relief package is reached in the next few days.
The Air Line Pilots Association said Monday that the deal will allow United to spread a reduced amount of flying across the airline’s 13,000 pilots to save jobs at least until June.
While the call for testing isn’t new, the outlook has turned increasingly grim for airlines taking stock of a disappointing summer with rising infection rates and restrictions dashing hopes for a recovery.
Qantas, among the latest to advertise a flight that departs and arrives at the same airport with no stops along the way, said the trip sold out less than 10 minutes after going on sale.
According to FlightAware statistics, on Aug. 23, U.S. airlines operated 15,419 flights, down 45% from a year earlier. On that same day, the United States saw 8,883 business aviation flights—down only 4% from a year earlier.
American Airlines plans to offer seasonal flights to Cancun beginning in December, and Delta Air Lines will begin offering flights to Memphis starting Oct. 1.
Southwest Airlines didn’t levy the $200 change fees to start with, so Monday’s announcements mean that the four biggest U.S. carriers will have roughly similar policies.
The move by United Airlines will put pressure on American Airlines and Delta Air Lines to drop their change fees, also $200 on domestic travel.
The pandemic has caused airline travel to fall sharply, decimating revenue. Travel has recovered somewhat from very low points in March and April, but it still hasn’t come back to its pre-pandemic levels.
Passenger traffic has recovered slightly since the beginning of the pandemic but remains down 70% from a year ago, and carriers say they need fewer workers.
American Airlines is planning to drop flights to up to 30 smaller U.S. cities if a federal requirement to continue those flights expires at the end of next month, an airline executive familiar with the matter said Thursday.
United’s planned new winter flights to Florida, which will depart from New York, Boston, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Columbus, Ohio, are aimed at leisure travelers. But the airline is prepared to reverse course if necessary.
