American Airlines, without additional stimulus, will cut flights to more US cities, CEO says
American Airlines would be forced to discontinue service to additional US markets in the absence of new coronavirus relief from Washington, CEO Doug Parker said Thursday. The airline has already cut service to 13 cities through the month of November, Parker pointed out, shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected the idea of a stand-alone aid package for airlines unless it was part of a broader stimulus measure. Parker said American and other major carriers are pushing back more flight cuts, holding out hope for extra government aid. “There will absolutely be discontinuation of service to small communities, and there will be much less service to larger communities” without more coronavirus relief, he stressed. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump halted broader relief talks, and then began pushing for smaller measures focused on airlines, small businesses and stimulus checks for individual Americans. On Thursday morning, before Pelosi’s comments, the president claimed “some very productive talks” had resumed among stimulus negotiators. The first round of government support during the pandemic came in March, and it prevented airlines from making job cuts and required them to maintain minimum levels of service through Sept. 30. “It gave us the funds to keep people employed that ... there wasn’t enough demand for airline service to keep them employed,” Parker said. “It allowed us to serve more markets than we would have otherwise.” Parker said American Airlines projects its revenue for Q3 to be down about 75% year over year, slightly better than the roughly 85% sales decline experienced in Q2. The company estimates a 65% drop in Q4, “so that’s gradual improvement but off an incredibly low base,” he said. “We can’t continue to wait. If forced to, of course, we will indeed discontinue service to a lot of markets and we will be much slower to rebound and help the country rebound from this pandemic,” Parker said. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-10-09/oneworld/american-airlines-without-additional-stimulus-will-cut-flights-to-more-us-cities-ceo-says
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/logo.png
American Airlines, without additional stimulus, will cut flights to more US cities, CEO says
American Airlines would be forced to discontinue service to additional US markets in the absence of new coronavirus relief from Washington, CEO Doug Parker said Thursday. The airline has already cut service to 13 cities through the month of November, Parker pointed out, shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected the idea of a stand-alone aid package for airlines unless it was part of a broader stimulus measure. Parker said American and other major carriers are pushing back more flight cuts, holding out hope for extra government aid. “There will absolutely be discontinuation of service to small communities, and there will be much less service to larger communities” without more coronavirus relief, he stressed. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump halted broader relief talks, and then began pushing for smaller measures focused on airlines, small businesses and stimulus checks for individual Americans. On Thursday morning, before Pelosi’s comments, the president claimed “some very productive talks” had resumed among stimulus negotiators. The first round of government support during the pandemic came in March, and it prevented airlines from making job cuts and required them to maintain minimum levels of service through Sept. 30. “It gave us the funds to keep people employed that ... there wasn’t enough demand for airline service to keep them employed,” Parker said. “It allowed us to serve more markets than we would have otherwise.” Parker said American Airlines projects its revenue for Q3 to be down about 75% year over year, slightly better than the roughly 85% sales decline experienced in Q2. The company estimates a 65% drop in Q4, “so that’s gradual improvement but off an incredibly low base,” he said. “We can’t continue to wait. If forced to, of course, we will indeed discontinue service to a lot of markets and we will be much slower to rebound and help the country rebound from this pandemic,” Parker said. <br/>
