The US tourism and aviation industry recovered strongly

The US tourism and aviation industry recovered strongly

The new variant makes many people concerned about the risk of an outbreak of the Covid-19 disease, but airports in the US still see a lot of people going on summer vacation.

The US travel and aviation industry recovered strongly. Source: AP/Steven Senne

Domestic travel in the US started to recover earlier this year, when vaccinations were boosted. U.S. government figures show that about 57% of Americans of age to be vaccinated are fully vaccinated. According to data from the US Transportation Security Administration, in recent times, about 2 million people have boarded flights every day, most of them on vacation. This number accounts for about 74% of traffic during the same period in 2019.

Airlines in the US said that, despite concerns about the Covid-19 epidemic and virus variants, the number of bookings has not decreased but is increasing every week. According to a representative of United Airlines, 84% of the airline's regular customers have been vaccinated against Covid-19 and there have been no massive cancellations, despite the increase in the number of infections in the US in the past 2 weeks.

The airline industry in the US lost billions of dollars last year, but the situation is improving. Southwest and Delta have recorded profits in the first quarters of the year, while United Airlines is expected to increase revenue in the third and fourth quarters of this year.

After convincing thousands of employees to quit last year, some airlines are now short on staff due to the rapid recovery of the travel industry, leading to an increase in flight delays or cancellations.

Recently, American Airlines announced plans to hire 350 pilots this year and about 1,000 next year. The airline said it will recall 3,300 flight attendants who have voluntarily quit their jobs, and hire about 800 more flight attendants next spring.