What You Need to Know About U.S. Airlines Now in a World Turned Upside-Down
Photo Credit: Empty plane cabins like the one shown here will be all too common for airlines as the coronavirus outbreak ramps up. Adobe / Mirko
Skift Take
U.S. airlines were in a position of strength. And then the coronavirus crisis struck. Although no carrier has announced layoffs or has requested a government bailout, the days, weeks, and months ahead look rough.
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Recall that after the Lehman Brothers financial crisis that began in late 2009, leisure demand held up rather well, compared to business travel anyway. In the current crisis, the demand collapse is near universal — leisure, business, domestic, international, short-haul, and long-haul. Delta did, however, make a few distinctions, noting that West Coast U.S. travel was more affected than the East Coast. Millennials, it added, were traveling more than seniors. Latin America, importantly, was holding up much better than Europe and especially Asia. In response, U.S. airlines, like most airlines worldwide, are responding to the crisis with actions like stepping up cleaning protocols, training workers to deal with ill passengers, relaxing ticket rules, reducing fares, easing revenue management controls, cutting capacity, grounding planes, deferring nonessential investments, susp