Air travel has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, with the number of daily airline passengers dropping to levels not seen since the 1950s, but some major U.S. carriers have begun reporting hopeful signs.
United Airlines said it is seeing a “moderate” pickup in travel demand and fewer cancellations, and it plans a 75% reduced schedule in July, compared with 90% cuts during May and June.
The Chicago-based airline said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that most of the increased demand has been for domestic flights and a few international routes.
The airline said that bookings in April were down more than 95% from a year ago. It plans to keep evaluating and canceling flights “on a rolling 60-day basis until it sees signs of a recovery in demand.”
Southwest Airlines also indicated that April might have been the bottom. Its planes were only 8% full on average, and revenue tumbled 90% to 95% from a year earlier, it reported to the SEC.
But Dallas-based Southwest said bookings now outnumber cancellations, and it forecasts slightly smaller revenue drops in May and June, citing “a modest improvement in passenger demand and bookings.”
Southwest expects planes to be about 40% full in June.
“The revenue environment remains uncertain and may require additional capacity reductions depending on passenger demand,” the airline said in its SEC filing.
baiduhai staff contributed.
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