By Rajesh Kumar Singh

BOSTON, (Reuters) – U.S. airlines will be looking to the upcoming holiday period and the reopening transatlantic routes in order to regain the momentum that was lost last quarter due in part to a resurgence of COVID-19.

Air-carriers experienced a good summer season but had to adjust their expectations for September quarter. The fast spreading Delta coronavirus caused cancellations and slowed new bookings.

The industry has high hopes for passengers flying again after seeing a dip in COVID-19 case numbers a month ago.

Raymond James, a financial services company, conducted an analysis on the Transportation Security Administration’s average 7-day passenger screening data. It found that although travel demand is still below the peak of late July, it has increased from its lows in September.

Chief Executive of Hawaiian Holdings Ingram, Inc. spoke with Reuters during an interview. “As Thanksgiving approaches, and Christmas is approaching, there’s the chance for solid, strong recovery.”

Delta Air Lines (NYSE 🙂 has also seen bookings rise, and expects domestic demand to exceed 2019 levels in 2019.

United Airlines said Thursday it would fly its largest domestic schedule since January’s pandemic. The airline will offer more than 3,500 daily domestic flights to December, which is 91% of its total domestic capacity.

Scott Kirby, chief executive of NYSE: said that “there’s a lot pent up demand.”

International Air Transport Association (IATA) is a group of 290 airlines. It expects North American air-carriers to be back to profit next year, ahead of counterparts in other countries.

Business Travel

It is uncertain what the future holds for business travel, which remains the industry’s main cash cow.

Airlines for America is a trade association that estimates business travel was responsible for up to 50% of the airline industry’s passenger revenue before the pandemic.

The carriers were betting on office reopenings to boost business travel this fall. Many large employers were forced to postpone their openings for next year by the Delta variant.

Airlines believe a revival of the airline industry is possible. But, it is unclear when the revival will occur.

United’s Kirby anticipates that business travel will rebound to pre-pandemic levels by 2023. However, JetBlue Chief Executive Robin Hayes believes it may take “a few more years.”

Hayes announced that New York’s budget carrier, based out of New York City, has transferred flights from business markets to leisure market.

Hayes said in an interview with Reuters that she believes the holiday would be strong. This is what we can see from our forward bookings.

TRANS-ATLANTIC ROUTE REMAINING OPEN

In the meantime, airlines are encouraged by Biden’s plans to reopen America in November for European-based travelers. One of the most lucrative routes in the world is the trans-Atlantic, which accounted for as much as 17% for 2019 passenger revenues by the three largest carriers.

The market has witnessed a spike in the number of bookings for all U.S. carriers since the White House announcement.

Kirby indicated that United’s trans-Atlantic flight bookings last week exceeded those of the previous year. Both Delta Air and JetBlue have seen an increase in sales.

This is not a small opportunity.

The successful reopening and expansion of the most significant long-haul international market will set an example for others markets. The fragile recovery could be slowed by a possible reintroduction of restrictions in the event that COVID-19 case numbers rise again.

Hayes said, “Restrictions cannot start reappearing wherever they have gone.” This acts as an impediment to the demand.