US airlines face test as epidemic spreads
US airlines retooled their businesses over the past decade in ways they said would generate profits even during an economic shock. The coronavirus epidemic rippling around the world is providing the biggest test yet of those efforts, grounding hundreds of jets overseas as consumers and businesses scrap travel plans. The most significant operational impact for US carriers has been mass cancellations into April of flights to and from Asia. American Airlines Group and Delta suspended flights to Milan after the U.S. State Department issued its highest-level warning against travel there on Saturday. Delta is also delaying the start of summer flights to Venice by a month. Now there are mounting signs of softening travel demand in the US, as people skip trips and businesses instruct employees to stay put. Pete Erickson, whose company, Modev, organizes events for big tech companies, said some employees had backed away from plans to attend a staff meeting in Washington, D.C., Monday. “They don’t want to get on a plane—domestically,” Erickson said. The company decided not to hold the meeting in-person, and on Sunday told everyone to remain where they were. The financial toll from the epidemic is already expected to far surpass the $7b sales hit to the global airline industry during the SARS outbreak in 2003. Some analysts have estimated $100b in lost revenue to airlines and related industries if traffic growth that was already slowing turns negative for the first time in a decade. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s unprecedented,” said John Grant, an analyst at OAG, which publishes airline schedules and data.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-03-03/general/us-airlines-face-test-as-epidemic-spreads
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US airlines face test as epidemic spreads
US airlines retooled their businesses over the past decade in ways they said would generate profits even during an economic shock. The coronavirus epidemic rippling around the world is providing the biggest test yet of those efforts, grounding hundreds of jets overseas as consumers and businesses scrap travel plans. The most significant operational impact for US carriers has been mass cancellations into April of flights to and from Asia. American Airlines Group and Delta suspended flights to Milan after the U.S. State Department issued its highest-level warning against travel there on Saturday. Delta is also delaying the start of summer flights to Venice by a month. Now there are mounting signs of softening travel demand in the US, as people skip trips and businesses instruct employees to stay put. Pete Erickson, whose company, Modev, organizes events for big tech companies, said some employees had backed away from plans to attend a staff meeting in Washington, D.C., Monday. “They don’t want to get on a plane—domestically,” Erickson said. The company decided not to hold the meeting in-person, and on Sunday told everyone to remain where they were. The financial toll from the epidemic is already expected to far surpass the $7b sales hit to the global airline industry during the SARS outbreak in 2003. Some analysts have estimated $100b in lost revenue to airlines and related industries if traffic growth that was already slowing turns negative for the first time in a decade. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s unprecedented,” said John Grant, an analyst at OAG, which publishes airline schedules and data.<br/>
