As virus cases rise, Southwest sees slower recovery
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines cautioned recently 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.
Southwest said in a regulatory filing that October revenue is down about 65% from a year ago, and that November and December revenue will be off 60% to 65%. It is unclear whether the weakening booking trend is directly related to the surge in virus cases. Other industry officials left little doubt, however.
“Demand is softening, and in the wake of the news, it’s probably not hard to figure out why,” said Nicholas Calio, president of the trade group Airlines for America.
Air travel remains deeply depressed — in the U.S., it’s down about 65% from a year ago.
Although that is an improvement over April’s 95% decline, Calio said that U.S. airlines still are losing about $180 million a day.
In the early days of the pandemic, several airlines tried to reassure frightened travelers by blocking some seats to create more space between passengers.
As flights have become more crowded in recent months, airlines are losing money by leaving seats empty.