Pilots want feds to buy empty seats
The American Airlines pilots’ union is proposing that the government help airlines by buying enough seats so that passengers never have to sit next to a stranger.
The Allied Pilots Association said Wednesday that would make people feel comfortable about flying during the pandemic, lead airlines to add flights and help avoid “significant” layoffs when $25 billion in federal payroll aid to airlines runs out in October. The proposal isn’t cheap. The union estimates it would cost up to $1.9 billion a month if airlines operate at 40 percent of their 2019 capacity and up to $3.8 billion a month if they run at 80 percent.
• U.S. gasoline consumption is more than halfway back to pre-COVID-19 levels, according to the Oil Price Information Service, an IHS Markit company.
Fill-ups at the pump fell 49 percent from 2019 volumes during the second week of April. The most recent OPIS survey shows that demand was down 22 percent in the second week of June, compared with the year-ago period.
Gasoline sales have been climbing at an average of 6.4 percent per week since April, according to OPIS President Fred Rozell.
• Southwest Airlines is testing whether a fare sale will persuade people to start traveling again. Southwest launched a three-day sale this week with some shorter round trips under $100 and longer routes for up to $238 in late summer and fall.
Air travel in the U.S. has been slowly picking up since midApril. The Transportation Security Administration screened at least 500,000 people for five straight days — the first time that’s happened since mid-March — but on Monday, the number fell back to 471,421, down 81 percent from the comparable day last year.