A Quick Update Regarding COVID-19 & Air Travel Analysis

The COVID-19 (a.k.a. The Coronavirus) Pandemic has been affecting nearly all elements of day-to-day life around the world, especially the world of aviation. In this article, I’d like to give everyone an update on the future of airtravelanalysis.com and the world in aviation.

The Future Of Aviation in 400 Words

As I’m sure many of you know, most airlines have canceled most if not all (even Emirates has temporarily canceled all of their flights) to stop the spread of the virus and due to almost no demand, besides those looking to return home. As a result, most airlines now are in a bleak financial situation, with FlyBe and Trans States Airlines already having gone out of business. Airlines such as United, Delta, American, and pretty much every other airline around the world have suspended many if not most of their flights, with United only operating six intercontinental flights, for the indefinite future (I’ll try and have more in-detail analysis of airline suspensions and the rest of this in the coming days).

US airlines most recently are requesting $29 Billion in payroll grants and $29 Billion in loans. In exchange, the airlines which signed a letter to Congress demanding so, promised not to layoff any employees in the meantime and will limit executive compensation and will not participate in stock buybacks or dividends until the loans are repaid. 

Speaking of which, many congressmen and analysts have pointed out that airlines have spent billions in stock buybacks over the past ten years and should not receive a bailout as they have been financially irresponsible (which they have been). Others have argued that airlines should receive bailouts in order to protect the jobs of the airline workers, although only with certain conditions, such as (I’m just listing some of the ones which have been proposed; I have no idea of the likelihood that they’ll be passed) requiring airlines to ban or cap stock buybacks and executive bonuses, worker protections/an increased minimum wage, limiting passenger fees, or emissions reductions. It’s looking extremely likely at this point that the airlines (and probably also Boeing) will get some bailout; if they do not, then I do think that it is very likely that at least some of the airlines will go bankrupt. 

I do see both sides of the argument. However, personally, I would probably argue that US airlines should get some kind of a bailout or loan with specific (labor protective) requirements (though I think that the current bill does more than what is necessary for the airlines to survive), as the aviation industry is way too important to the global economy and the global interconnectedness of the world, and I haven’t even talked about the millions of jobs which the industry employs, both directly and indirectly (just to be clear: I’m talking about the aviation alone; I also think some kind of rudimentary emergency UBI is probably also necessary at this point).

The Future Of Air Travel Analysis

In terms of Air Travel Analysis and myself, I haven’t written much over the past weeks, simply because the stuff that I usually write posts on (airline profiles, best uses of miles, etc.) are simply not very useful at this point in time (although I predict that they one day will be useful again). However, I will write a post this week and will try to write more over time covering the aviation industry concerning the Coronavirus (if anyone would like me to write about anything in particular, I am always open to suggestions for posts!). I have been at home the last week and have been out of school (for those of you who don’t know, I’m in high school) and have moved into online learning for possibly the rest of the year.

In the meantime, I’m also going to try to update some of the airline profiles, some of which have become very out of date and aren’t up to the standards of some of my more recent airline profiles. Unfortunately, I have seen a bit of a dip in traffic to my website (just when I was starting to see an increase in it!), which is expected. I personally do not expect things to get back to normal any time soon, and the aviation industry will take a massive hit from the virus and will most likely take a while if ever to get back to last year’s levels of traffic. I expect aviation will eventually recover, and as a result, Air Travel Analysis isn’t going anywhere, and in the meantime, I hope to offer some level of coverage of the crisis in the coming days.

I’m sure that everyone hears this 24/7, but just in case you need someone else to tell it to you, please please please stay at home and start (hopefully continue) social distancing. The faster that we can distance ourselves from each other, the less the virus can spread, and the quicker we can get back to relative normality (in addition, it also saves lives…). 

Stay safe, and the new official recommendation of Air Travel Analysis for the time being is: do not travel unless absolutely essential.

Regards,

Julian