The Airline Business continues to Struggle

The past year and a half has not been kind to the airline industry. According to CNN, the industry collectively lost nearly 12 billion dollars in the second quarter alone and have already lost 8.9 billion in the third quarter. The same article reports that due to covid, and a fear of flight travel, airline stocks and travel had reached rock bottom levels during the pandemic. Recently, after the rollout of the vaccine and a renewed willingness to fly, airlines are starting to recover, but their rise from the bottom may take much longer than expected. 

In the days leading up to and through Columbus day weekend, Southwest and other airlines had to cancel thousands of flights leaving some passengers stranded. According to NBC news, Southwest cancelled almost 2,400 flights from Saturday October 9, 2021 to Tuesday October 12, 2021 plummeting its shares by four whole percent. According to the New York Times, these cancelations accounted four nearly 28% of the weekend schedule and 10% of the Monday schedule. To add on, even more flights have been consistently delayed, and a third of all flights have been delayed for more than 15 minutes or more. This setback is not the only one the airline has had since the rollout of the pandemic. In June and in August pilots were citing fatigue for the increasing number of days pilots and crews have been taken off. 

The sources of these cancellations have been disputed and varied. While the New York Times reported some hazardous weather conditions over the weekend, they argue that the weather could not have accounted for the nearly 2,400 flights. In the same article, Southwest Airlines cited the weather and poor planning for the delays, claiming that many pilots and crew were out of place. Other rumors subsist around the President’s vaccine mandate for certain companies and a potential strike from the airline’s employees. Southwest has claimed that these rumors are false. Whatever the reason is, the cancelations have clearly shaken the trust of airline goers as seen with the sharp decrease of stocks according to a CNN business article.  

The reputation of the airlines has taken a hit recently. Flights are no longer guaranteed and often leave passengers stranded and without refunds. Dave Shivell, a frequent flyer, had his flight from San Diego to New York delayed. It was then rerouted to Dallas where his next flight had already left due the late take off stranding him in Dallas. He eventually arrived in New York, but after a long difficult time. He says,”that the airlines simply do not have enough people,” which is a reason of concern for all flyers. 

Southwest does not have monopoly on problems when it comes to airlines. CNBC reports that Spirit airlines and American Airlines also cancelled numerous flights during the same duration of time. And Delta is dealing with a more worrisome problem for the whole industry. While almost all airlines’ shares dropped on Wednesday, Delta is already projecting a fourth quarter loss of revenue. Increasing global gas prices are a source of concern as they threaten to once again hurt the industry, according to another CNBC article. 

While the airlines will recover as they did after 9/11, it may take longer than expected. Travel could be less reliable, as many more pilots are taking flights off and more cancellations are expected to come. Covid still plays a factor in air travel as flights can and will continue to be cancelled due to infections.  However, there is hope as more people have been taking to the air, as the airline business will seek to take off once again, but will likly experience more turbulence along the way.