On Sunday, the total was 253,807, the highest number since March 24, but still just 9.7% of the total that passed through security on the same day a year ago.
The CARES Act provided $25 billion in grants for airlines to pay employees through Sept. 30, but it seems likely on the next day, Oct. 1, tens of thousands of airline employees will lose their jobs.Empty middle seats? Require passenger to keep masks on? Take passenger temperatures? In a memo to pilots last week, American Airlines said, “Once on board and off the gate, the face covering policy will become more lenient. The flight attendant’s role is informational, not enforcement, with respect to the face covering policy.” Rather, flight attendants should seek “to defuse the situation,” the airline said.
While cargo accounted for less than 2% of first quarter revenue at American, Delta and United, Bastian answered a question on Delta’s first quarter earnings call for media, saying “In the short term, it’s more than 2% of current revenues.” The shift of Boeing’s place in the industry is extraordinary and is reflected in the share price decline to about $128 today from about $441 in March 2019. Meanwhile, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has said repeatedly that survival is at stake. Airbus is “bleeding” cash, he said.