“I suddenly stopped travelling in March because of the concerns around Covid,” JJ Kinahan, market strategist at TD AmeriTrade, told AFP.
While Kinahan says he does not miss the flights, he does miss the personal connection with hotel doormen and receptionists he would encounter regularly in his travels.Airlines are really feeling the pain: the four largest US carriers – American, United, Delta and Southwest – together lost nearly US$11 billion in the third quarter.For the first time since mid-March, the number of travellers passing through airport security on Oct 18 exceeded the one million mark.
While some workers in enclosed places, like slaughterhouses and cruise ships, have been able to claim compensation after falling ill, it is not clear if an employee would be able to successfully prove they contracted Covid-19 while on a business trip, she said. While they comprise only about a third of passengers, they account for half of annual revenue, according to the industry group Airlines for America.“Business travel is incredibly important to United,” the airline’s chief Scott Kirby said on a recent conference call.Kirby tried to remain upbeat though he said he does not see a rebound until late next year, while volume will not return to normal until 2024.“Just like 9/11, everybody said the world is going to change, people aren’t going to fly.