U.S. airlines have lost more $35 billion by 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused losses of about $35 billion to US airlines by 2020, according to estimates by the multinational financial data company FactSet.
See also: US EPA finalizes the first regulations on aircraft emissions.
The coronavirus has put an end to a decade of profits in the sector with the constant growth of air transport, and also represents the first time that the company Southwest Airlines has suffered annual losses in its more than 40 years of history, According to EFE.
Airline shares suffered in 2020 decreases not seen in years, and American Airlines fell by 45%, its largest drop since before its merger with US Airways in 2013.
See also: U.S. lawmakers push for airplane certifications reforms.
Delta Air Lines lost 31% in the stock market in 2020, and United Airlines lost 51%, its biggest devaluation since the 2008 crisis, while Southwest slipped 14%.
The pandemic has forced airlines to downsize rapidly, eliminating routes and leaving hundreds of planes parked.
For US airlines, their debt rose by some $67 billion to $172 billion, according to the “Airlines for America” group.
Despite this negative data, FactSet points out that air transport seems to have recovered quite a bit of ground since the beginning of the pandemic, and while on April 16th the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) registered just over 95,000 passengers at US airports, in the last 5 days of 2020 that figure rose to over 1 million people a day, but still remains 45% less than the previous year.
By 2021, analysts at FactSet estimate that airlines will cut their losses, and that even some of them, such as Southwest, Delta or Alaska, will register gains thanks to, among other factors, the arrival of the vaccine, which is expected to boost air travel.
Even so, senior airline executives warn that there are still hard months to overcome, and American Airlines President Robert Isom said this week that the company’s capacity in January and February will be 45% compared to 2019 levels.
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