Airline News

The fateful day of October 1 is fast approaching. It’s the day that U.S. airlines will lose federal money for wages, unless Congress acts to extend payroll support. With time…

In top travel stories this week, Skift wrote about a contactless-tech airport terminal, 2022 as the earliest coronavirus recovery, Marriott's CEO talking about hygiene theater, United pointing to its future scaled-down size, and plenty more.

From government bailouts to layoffs, commercial airlines have taken drastic measures to stay afloat since Covid-19. Not Ethiopian – now operating out of the second largest capacity airport in Africa, while turning a profit and forging ahead with further expansion plans beyond its new state-of-art, bio-safety terminal.

United expects to remain half its size till the end of next year, when CEO Scott Kirby thinks a vaccine will be widely available. But will it be in a position to respond quickly to demand if the company is forced to lay off tens of thousands of employees?

While its competitors are struggling with the collapse in business-travel demand, JetBlue's focus on leisure travelers has been a source of (relative) strength. The airline is flouting conventional wisdom and expanding in its competitors' hubs.

Under Ed Bastian, Delta Air Lines has taken a prudent approach to managing through this pandemic. The airline is not expecting a recovery for about two years.