American Airlines is enjoying a spring surge of revenue that demonstrates the resiliency of the consumer travel market and suggests that airlines are already tremendously benefiting from the loosening of domestic travel restrictions. Is a V-shaped recovery for the airline industry right around the corner?
American Airlines Experiences Surge In Bookings – Is V-Shaped Recovery Coming?
The ever-knowledgeable JonNYC notes several fascinating stats concerning American Airlines:
- Direct bookings on American Airlines are up 150-400% compared to last year and within a few points of 2019.
- Bookings last weekend were higher than in 2019
- All planes will be flying in May
- Domestic load factors were 80% last week
- The last week has represented the biggest revenue days since the pandemic began
.. a nearly 80% domestic load factor last week
We plan to be flying all our aircraft as of May – no more grounded planes”
— ˜”*° JonNYC °*”˜ (@xJonNYC) March 26, 2021
The pandemic is not over (even if leisure travelers believe it is) and business and intercontinental travel will be slow to recover.
Still, this news is heartening for the aviation industry and a sign of what is to come if COVID-19 new case numbers continue to retreat.
CONCLUSION
View from the Wing wryly notes the irony of AA’s recent surge in revenue and the fact that it has not even begun to receive the third bailout yet. While it isn’t time to break out the Champagne yet, the signs are very encouraging for American Airlines.
But be warned, folks. The numbers are (slowly, but surly) creeping back up. The first and second waves hit Europe before the USA and a third wave has now hit much of Europe hard.
I do not caution you to stay home. Quite the contrary, I encourage you to travel and particularly to help small businesses rebound from a devastating year. But travel responsibly. Don’t let your guard down. Practice good hygiene, wear your mask arounds those who are not vaccinated, and get vaccinated as soon as you can.
image: American Airlines
Great News! It finally seems things are starting to get back to “normal”.
Terrible news! People are flying before getting vaccinated.
Aside from maybe Hawaii, USA never really locked down again even during the massive January spike in COVID cases. But contrary to the geniuses in the comment section, an overwhelming amount of people still wear masks in public, and I haven’t seen a business that didn’t require masks on entry. With US leading the way on vaccination, let’s see if the COVID deaths keep dropping down (starting to see a slight uptick on cases)
I’m sorry. On what planet is this a V shaped recovery??? Maybe on a geologic scale!!! It is clearly a U.