Will Covid-19 change the way we fly?

Higher fares, fewer routes, preflight health checks and less free food: The coronavirus pandemic is ushering in a new era of air travel. A seismic shift is underway as the world’s airlines reassess their operations and how they will look emerging from the crisis. At eerily empty airports, mask-wearing and social distancing already show a behavioural change among the few staff and travellers left. A long shake up lies ahead that is set to touch almost every aspect of flying after limits on movement unwind. “We should be prepared for a choppy, sluggish recovery even after the virus is contained, ” Delta CE Ed Bastian said in a letter to employees in the US this month. “I estimate the recovery period could take two to three years.” In a matter of months, the coronavirus reset the clock on a decades-long aviation boom that’s been one of the great cultural and economic phenomena of the post-war world. The explosion in air travel shrunk the planet, created jobs and hundreds of millions of first-time fliers, and dispersed families rich and poor over continents. Now it’s all on hold, with airlines slashing seat capacity by more than 70% since January. There’s no knowing when people will be willing to pack into enclosed cabin spaces again, though an IATA survey found 40% of recent travellers anticipated waiting at least six months after the virus is contained before flying again. Story has details of predictions about how flying will change. <br/>