The sector started the year with widespread flight disruptions as winter storms and staff shortages caused by rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus ability may impeded the busy holiday season too. Delta reported instance about 8,000 employees – more than one in 10 – are ill, the airline announced in January. At Mr Bastian estimated that the variant had delayed recovery of the airline 60 days.
Delta said in January it expects losses that month and February, with a return to profitability in March. While Delta had expected a loss for the first three months of this year, predicted earnings for the rest of the year.
March started strongly with several airlines reporting better-than-expected sales. But some of that improvement was dented by high fuel prices resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supply chain problems. Still, American said at an investor conference last month that it expected the additional revenues to more than offset the rise in fuel prices.
At the same conference, Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s chairman, said the airline could “easily” raise fares in the second quarter to make up for rising fuel costs, recoup costs faster than usual as customers fly closer to the date. of the trip were booking . At an average one-way ticket price of about $200, the airline will have to recover $15 to $20, he said at the time. A United executive was also optimistic that the airline would be able to pass on fuel costs to customers in higher fares.
The industry has recently taken a turn, according to an analysis by the Adobe Digital Economy Index. In February, according to the analysis, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, ticket sales for domestic flights surpassed those for the same month in 2019. The trend continued last month, with fares rising 20 percent from March 2019, Adobe reported Tuesday. .
In recent weeks, about two million people were screened daily at the security checkpoints of the Transportation Security Administration, about 90 percent more than in the comparable period in 2019.
