United CEO says travel demand unlikely to recover until vaccine is widely distributed

The CEO of United said Sunday that a recovery for the aviation industry will have to wait until a Covid-19 vaccine is approved and widely available, a milestone he said the company projects the country will reach toward the end of 2021. “I hope that happens sooner, but our guess is that’s the end of next year,” Scott Kirby said. Kirby’s comments are in line with predictions made by Dr Anthony Fauci, one of the country’s leading experts on infectious diseases. But they contrast to recent statements made by President Donald Trump, who has suggested that the US will soon return to normal as he makes his case for a second term ahead of the November contest against Democrat Joe Biden. Kirby said that barring new federal legislation, United will be forced to lay off 16,000 workers as soon as next month, after the existing funds that were allocated in March dry up. He said that the company continues to burn through $25m per day amid a decline in revenue of 85%. “In a business like ours, demand is not going to come back until people feel safe being around other people, and that’s going to take a vaccine,” Kirby said. “And that’s just the reality. Some businesses can recover earlier, but in aviation and all the industries that we support, it is going to take longer... The reality is, without more government support for the whole economy, there are going to be more layoffs to come.” Experts, including Fauci, have said it would be possible for a vaccine to be approved by the end of the year, and possibly even November, but have cautioned that it will take longer for the country to return to normal. <br/>