Virus leaves the US travel industry struggling to recover

US air travel down almost 90% from a year ago. Few sectors of the economy have endured as much devastation from the coronavirus as the travel business. Surveying the wreckage, economists and company leaders say it will take years to regenerate the $1.1t the industry produced last year, potentially leaving many airlines, hotels, rental car companies and restaurants in peril. And as long as travel remains depressed, the economy could struggle to accelerate. About 10% of all jobs flow from the travel sector. Industry-wide unemployment now tops 50%, government reports suggest, a level that could presage bankruptcies and business closures. Spending by business and leisure travelers had provided an engine of growth that helped power the economy until the virus struck. “While the rest of the country is moving into a recession," said Tori Emerson Barnes, an executive at the US Travel Association, “the travel industry is already in a depression.”<br/>