The summer got off to a strong start, with many planes full of vacationers eager to break out after being stuck at home for more than a year. After months of improving travel numbers, however, August was disappointing.
Airlines are watching COVID-19 numbers closely and finding hope in the latest figures showing the surge that started in July might have peaked. The seven-day average of cases is roughly flat compared with two weeks ago.
Airline executives say they believe bookings will pick up as soon as case counts go down.
“Things moved downward rather quickly, but they can, I think, move upwards just as quickly,”
Airline stocks fell shortly after trading began Thursday but then turned higher. By early afternoon, American was up 6% and others rose between 3% and 5%.
Americans have been willing to travel over the summer and during shorter holiday periods. Air travel over the
By Wednesday, however, the number of people going through airport checkpoints dropped back to 1.4 million, down 28% from the comparable Wednesday in 2019.
United's Nocella warned that travel is likely to slump in October, early November, and the period between
In a bid to reassure passengers worried about the virus, airlines have been pushing their employees to become vaccinated against COVID-19.
United is requiring the shots and says it will fire workers who don't get vaccinated in the coming weeks or merit an exemption on medical or religious grounds. A United executive said Wednesday that more than half of the previously unvaccinated employees have received a shot since the airline announced the requirement last month, although United refused to give precise numbers.
Ting called that “a huge number in terms of shifting that group that is most reluctant.”
AP Medical Writer
David Koenig can be reached at www.twitter.com/airlinewriter
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