Air transport: ready for take off!
Audio 04:09
The American airline United plans to recruit 300 new pilots, convinced that a new era of growth is ahead of it.
(Illustrative photo) © REUTERS - Kamil Krzaczynski
By: Dominique Baillard Follow
8 mins
Air transport that we thought had been destroyed, frozen to the ground for many years, is starting up again.
This is especially true in the United States.
This Easter weekend, American airports recorded a record of attendance.
Publicity
Some 1,500,000 passengers a day flocked to US airports over the spring long weekend.
In 2020, the worst year that air transport has known, no aviation expert would have dared to bet on such a score for the following year: 1,500,000 per day, that's twice as much as at the start. pandemic and at the same time still far from a return to normal;
in 2019 at the same time there were 40% more travelers.
But it's a real take-off.
Large companies are reactivating their teams.
Delta recalled Monday its 1,700 pilots, because this weekend, it had to cancel a hundred flights, for lack of pilot on the plane.
United plans to recruit 300 new ones, convinced that a new era of growth is ahead of them.
These companies are not yet returning to profit
It is a matter of months according to the firm Oliver Wyman which has just published a report predicting the return to normal in 2022 for domestic flights, occupied mainly by private customers.
On the other hand, the business tourism and international sectors are still affected.
Their rebirth will undoubtedly not take place before 2023. However, these are the two most profitable niches for large companies.
Before the pandemic, business tourism generated half of the profits of American carriers, about a third of their revenues.
Companies will therefore have to adapt their offer.
Some companies have started to review their economic model to better serve this hyper price sensitive clientele.
Vaccination accelerated the rebound of air travel
It's sesame.
The Covid-19 is no longer a constraint for the 20% of Americans today vaccinated and this gives them the move.
They can't wait to see their families again, the students to experience the
spring break
, the
spring break
.
However, caution remains.
On flights, masks are always compulsory.
Finally, health authorities are moderating this momentum and believe that travel is still contraindicated with the new wave of coronavirus.
These instructions will undoubtedly slow down the recovery.
In the United Kingdom, for example, the government is deconfining while strongly advising against summer holidays abroad.
This local triumph also gives newcomers wings
In Europe as in Asia or America, new companies are entering the niche of low-cost flights.
In Norway, the company Flyr wants to open six destinations from June.
In Italy, EGO Airways is planning eleven new routes.
In the United States, Breeze Airways specializes in underserved airports.
Between the local and the global, the Indian Flypop wants to directly link the United Kingdom to Punjab and Gujarat for the diaspora.
With the 6,000 planes still grounded across the globe, rental prices have dropped by half compared to 2019. And recruiting has never been easier.
These newcomers therefore come to challenge companies exhausted by the crisis, which will undoubtedly have to carry out at one time or another major restructuring in order to deleverage and survive without the support of the States.
In short
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos says he is in favor of the corporate tax hike.
The richest man in the world according to the
Forbes
ranking
, often accused of not paying enough taxes in the United States, spoke yesterday in favor of the reform proposed by Joe Biden.
In the United States, corporate tax is now 21%, it is expected to rise to 28%.
With the rebates offered by the States, the platform was only taxed up to 9% last year.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Economy
United States
Transport
Coronavirus