5 Charts That Bullish Airline CEOs Need to See on Corporate Travel's Recovery
Photo Credit: The USTA’s latest Business Travel Tracker reveals while American companies are returning to travel, there's still some hesitation. Pixabay / Julia Orige
Skift Take
Airline bosses might be living in a parallel universe, because it’s unlikely this abrupt revival of corporate travel will be able to hold its momentum over the next few quarters, a new report from the U.S. Travel Association shows.
Some major U.S. carriers say business travel is back. The U.S. Travel Association disagrees, based on the findings of its latest tracker.
In the third quarter it checked the sentiment among businesses, and the future is a lot less rosy compared to how execs at Delta Air Lines and United Airlines see things panning out.
“Global demand is continuing to ramp as consumers shift spend to experiences, businesses return to travel and international markets continue to reopen,” said Delta’s Ed Bastian during the carrier’s third quarter-earnings call on Thursday.
Its corporate bookings recovered to roughly 80 percent of 2019 levels at the end of September, and are expected to rise to the “low to mid-80s” during the fourth quarter.
United Airlines earlier in the week revealed corporate bookings had recove
