For airlines, the COVID-19 crisis brings no silver lining. They were stripped almost overnight and worldwide of passengers and revenue while retaining much of their high cost base. As the full horrific extent of the financial impact became apparent by late March and early April-when bookings slumped to their lowest-airlines and industry analysts began to acknowledge that the northern hemisphere summer period, typically a strong season for airlines, would be not just substantially weakened, but wrecked. Most forecasters then clung to the notion that the 2020 fall and 2020/2021 winter seasons would see the beginning of the air travel demand turnaround. Airlines began restoring their networks, adding back destinations and frequencies, in hopes that leisure and business travelers might be more ready to fly through the third and fourth quarters.
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