United Airlines News

As many companies opt out of their long-term leases for some of their offices, they face a new need for more team gatherings to ensure collaboration and company culture among distributed teams. This trend is an opportunity for the travel sector.

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?

There could be a trickle-down effect from the elimination of fees to corporate travel management, but it’s unlikely business passengers were front of mind when the airlines made the call.

In the near future, airlines expect fewer business travelers will fly. That means they need to attract people going on vacation. And a lot of those consumers do not like change fees.

Because these are airlines, consumers will want to know: What's the catch. But there probably isn't one. Times are tough in the airline industry, and this is as good a time as any to end unpopular fees.

In normal times, giant global network airlines don't cancel many flights for low load factors. They don't want to annoy high-value passengers, and they might need the airplane or crew at the next destination anyways. But United is now watching every penny.

Many travel managers and even agencies were caught off guard by the pandemic, underestimating how long it could last. Cue the last minute dash to work out how to leverage all those unused tickets.

After revealing some rough earnings on Tuesday night, United is trying to weather the storm of the pandemic. But executives said it's going to be hard — really hard until a vaccine is widely available.

United Airlines said it had the worst quarter in its history. But given the demand climate, the current third quarter might be just as bad. For recovery to happen, U.S. airlines need the U.S. government to figure out how to reduce Covid-19 outbreaks.