COVID 19: United Airlines offers insight on demand patterns

Throughout the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US United has offered candid assessments of how the crisis will affect its operations, and has often modelled for a worst case scenario. 

The airline has largely been slower to add capacity back into the market than its larger US airline peers, and as a rapid climb in US case counts has occurred during the last few weeks, United, American and Delta have all been forced to rein in some of their planned capacity increases for Aug-2020. United aims to tilt most of its capacity to leisure and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) markets, since corporate demand remains severely depressed.

United has also concluded that the decrease in demand will reach 50% and plateau until a vaccine is widely distributed, the timing of which is tough to determine. 

Summary: 

• United is expecting revenue headwinds in 3Q2020 as demand has currently stalled, and its passenger revenue for the quarter is projected to fall by 83%.
• Close-in demand has fallen off as some US states are instituting quarantines on travellers arriving from other regions of the country. 
• The airline has concluded that demand, measured by revenue, will reach a decrease of 50% and plateau until a vaccine is widely available. 

View more here: https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/covid-19-united-airlines-offers-insight-on-demand-patterns-532161