While 2020 was a disastrous year for the US aviation industry in terms of lost revenue and operational expenditures. Many US carriers are preemptively taking advantage of better passenger demand forecasts and have started to return to pre-covid boarding procedures, drop middle seating restrictions, and even reinstate previously serviced routes.
Southwest Airlines still manage to post a first-quarter profit of USD$116 million, which included financial support from the US government at beginning of 2021. The Chief Executive of Southwest Airlines mentioned that the company had noticed an increase in demand for leisure travel bookings since the beginning of February, with many people wanting to get away from home for a while.
With the number of vaccinations increasing every day both in the United States and around the world, the CEO of Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly was hopeful that better times lie ahead and said “while the pandemic is not over, we believe the worst is behind us, in terms of the severity of the negative impact on travel demand.”
Meanwhile, US flag carrier, American Airlines reported a first-quarter net loss of USD$1.3 billion but looks forward to seeing an upswing trend in travel demand and ticket purchases. According to the CEO of American Airlines, Doug Parker the airline has “gotten through the worst of this.”
In a statement seen by AeroNewsX, the Chairman and CEO of American added “Looking forward, with the momentum underway from the first quarter, we see signs of continued recovery in demand. We remain confident the network enhancements, customer-focused improvements and efficiency measures we’ve put into place will ensure American is well-positioned for the recovery.”
Earlier this month, American Airlines revealed it recorded its first positive cash flow month of the year, which was mainly due to increased levels of passenger demand. However, the positive cash flow figure did not take into account any loan repayments or severance packages. Meanwhile, the other two legacy carriers, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines also had cash-positive operations back in March.
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