As virus cases rise, Southwest sees slower travel recovery

DALLAS » Southwest Airlines cautioned Thursday that the tenuous recovery in air travel could be fading as coronavirus cases spike across the United States.

The nation’s fourth-biggest airline said after a modest rise in leisure-travel bookings from August through October, it now sees a slowdown in what were improving revenue trends for November and December.

Separately, JetBlue Airways announced it will stop blocking seats starting Jan. 8 – a bet that people feel more confident about traveling on full flights during a pandemic. The airline currently limits flights to 70% of capacity but will raise that to 85% on Dec. 2.

The report from Dallas-based Southwest added to fears that the spreading virus cases will hurt travel demand heading into Thanksgiving, a key period for airlines.