The optimistic outlook for air travel that was the news in early summer is now clearly over, U.S. airlines are saying, as the spread of the delta variant and continuing restrictions on international travel are cutting into ticket sales.
Delta, American, United and Southwest all told reporters they have seen the trend; some, like United and Southwest have already trimmed flight schedules. The trend downward began in August and is continuing, although some airlines are reporting healthy bookings for winter vacations later in the year.
International travel, especially to Europe, is taking a continuing hit as the U.S. has not opened to European travelers, and European countries are now more and more limiting their welcome to fully-vaccinated Americans.
Business travel, which airlines were counting on to pick up some of the post-vacation slack has also not picked up, and recent polls have indicated that many companies are thinking that in future they may never return to pre-pandemic levels of travel, saving face-to-face meetings only when video-conferencing is not enough.
