5 Key Takeaways From Skift Aviation Forum

How does an industry that's barely 100 years old handle a once-in-a-century pandemic? Airline and aviation industry leaders at the inaugural Skift Aviation Forum Thursday had a few ideas. Earlier this year, airlines were on track to have one of their best years ever, building on several years of record-setting profits. And then the pandemic struck. Now, after several months of teetering on the edge, airlines have more clarity on their near-term future, and the picture isn't pretty, although executives expressed hope that they see a way through. Leisure and Family-visit travel will lead the recovery Over the summer, after the pandemic's first wave started to recede in Europe and the Americas, people started flying again, taking holidays and visiting friends and relatives. This gave airlines some hope that a recovery was beginning, but unfortunately, the latest data from the International Air Transport Association suggest the recovery wasn't durable as countries around the world grapple with second- and third-wave infections. Still, airlines are chasing what traffic they can, and most of it is leisure and family-visit travel. Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly noted the airline has added several new destinations since the pandemic began, almost all in beach, mountain, or other leisure destinations. The carrier will resume operating flights to Hawaii now that the state has eased some of its restrictive quarantine protocols. But he struck a note of caution: "I don’t think things will be back to normal at all by the end of next year,” Kelly said. Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie echoed these sentiments and added that the low-cost-carrier's network to such places as Haiti and the Dominican Republic help it capture more of the family-visit traffic than network carriers. United has been rejiggering its network