Surprised this forum has been quiet in the wake of recent events and how the airlines will fair out. We went from pretty full flights in the end of February to completely empty in the beginning of March. Most of us know the $2 trillion included $58 billion for airlines, half of which will be loans and half will be grants. It comes with the stipulation that there will be no layoffs until September 30th and the money doesn't go to stock buy backs nor upper management compensation. The billion dollar question is what happens after September 30 now?
I liked this article on how things might turn out: How The Airline Industry Will Transform Itself As It Comes Back From Coronavirus
Some bullet points
-Volume won't come back for 3-5 years
-Business travel will return first but remain lower
-Pricing power will lag behind volume
-Hub and Spoke model may change for more point to point service
-Regional trips (less than 500 miles) will be upended
-More use of narrow-body aircraft for long-haul flights (ala Airbus A321XLR for trans-Atlantic)
-LCC carriers will do well as leisure travel comes back
If any time is a time for Amtrak (or Brightline or Texas Central like companies) to take advantage of the changing regional travel market, NOW is the time.
I liked this article on how things might turn out: How The Airline Industry Will Transform Itself As It Comes Back From Coronavirus
Some bullet points
-Volume won't come back for 3-5 years
-Business travel will return first but remain lower
-Pricing power will lag behind volume
-Hub and Spoke model may change for more point to point service
-Regional trips (less than 500 miles) will be upended
-More use of narrow-body aircraft for long-haul flights (ala Airbus A321XLR for trans-Atlantic)
-LCC carriers will do well as leisure travel comes back
If any time is a time for Amtrak (or Brightline or Texas Central like companies) to take advantage of the changing regional travel market, NOW is the time.