Is Revenge Travel Coming? ✈

On Friday, the CDC received a highly-welcomed update to travel restrictions that fully vaccinated individuals can travel, although necessary precautions still need to be taken, including mask-wearing. While the effects won’t be immediate, airlines are already optimistic about travel picking up after a devastating economy last year. Moreover, US airports have already recorded three weeks of more than 1 million daily passengers. Here are examples of major carriers as well as private carriers who have shared plans.

• United Airlines announced that it will restart pilot hiring, a plan United had halted mid-last year.
• Delta is the last of the major US carriers blocking off middle seats but will open them up starting in May, as passenger levels pick up.
• American Airlines indicated that its spring books have reached 90% of pre-pandemic levels.
• Private airlines banking on travel picking up are planning to go public. Budget airline Frontier Airlines recently IPOed to cash in on the public market, raising $570MM.
• Similarly, budget airline Sun Country Airlines IPOed in March and raised $250MM.
• Ravn Air, who went bankrupt and shut down last year in April, is one of the largest regional airlines in Alaska, helping to connect a lot of the rural communities in the North. It resumed operations and is picking up the pace after being acquired by Float Shuttle.
• Private airline Surf Air has plans to go public after raising significant funding in 2020. Through its membership service, members not only get on scheduled low-cost flights to avoid high traffic areas of California, but they also have the option of on-demand flights in 8-seater carriers.

The bottom line: 
US-based airlines lost around $35BN during the pandemic, requiring a bailout from the government, and many are still losing money. But the situation could turn around as travel picks up, especially business travel, as corporations ready for office re-openings.