US: Many airline flights nearly empty as virus undercuts travel

Airline service in the US is teetering on the brink of collapse, with near-empty planes and coronavirus outbreaks that have left some air traffic control towers empty. Even with sharply reduced schedules, airlines are consolidating some of the remaining flights because passengers aren’t showing up. An official of one major US airline, who asked that they and their airline not be identified, ticked off more than a dozen flights that departed Tuesday morning with fewer than 10 passengers on board. In a few cases, the passengers were outnumbered by pilots and flight attendants. “There are no passengers,” said the official, noting that the average flight was just over 20% full and that figure is expected to drop into the teens by the weekend. <br/>