Other U.S. carriers are cautiously working around the current restrictions and relaunching certain routes to Europe. United Airlines, for instance, announced on Wednesday it would be adding a handful of key transatlantic European flights in August amid a larger push to add thousands of routes back that month.
“We’re at the worst situation right now where all the borders are closed, and if you think about it globally, most every country’s border is closed,” Patrick Quayle, United’s vice president of international network and alliances, said on a media conference call on Wednesday. “But that has not stopped us from operating flights because there’s a lot of repatriation. What you’re seeing us add is really a very gradual build, and it’s based on the demand that exists in the market today.”
But the travel restrictions aren’t the only hurdle airlines will need to overcome to get these routes fully functional again. When the E.U.’s ban on American travelers is lifted, it could still be an uphill battle to get travelers to book European vacations en masse. “Current indications are that many travelers would be wary to venture overseas even once border restrictions are lifted for fear of the landscape or the rules changing,” Fenton says, noting that current 14-day quarantine mandates, especially, are a deterrent for both business and leisure travelers.
To mitigate this, flying to destinations with fewer restrictions is one of the only options airlines have in their playbook right now. “Given that U.S. airlines will be unable to operate their usual volume of transatlantic services, they will need to be opportunistic and redirect their networks towards routes that are currently open to them and where there is demand,” Fenton says.
Quayle says that idea is part of United’s international route strategy: focus first on its European alliance partner hubs, like Brussels, Frankfurt, and Munich, where passengers can make flight connections (still allowed for U.S. fliers) and build out from there. Meanwhile the airline is adding flights to countries where restrictions are already rolling back. “It’s about adding a lot of breadth and adding a lot of flying into Latin America, where borders are supposed to be opening, and then gradually and smartly adding flights across the Atlantic into our partner hubs,” he says.
It might seem like a risk, especially because operating only partially full planes on such routes could mean the airlines are operating at a significant loss, according to Fenton. But Quayle says United can make up the difference by carrying additional cargo and other commerce shipping services on the relaunched Europe routes. Due to the crisis, airlines are learning to be more nimble than ever with their schedules. “Gone are the days of months’ long route studies,” Fenton says. “Airlines are now turning to data to make these decisions in real time.”
Most airlines are still holding out for travelers to vacation in Europe when the situation improves. “Once the E.U. travel ban on Americans is lifted, you can be sure that U.S. carriers will be moving at warp speed to reinstate services,” Fenton says. “And, pent-up demand may serve to actually extend the traditional summer travel period, some are suggesting September may be the new July.”
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The Link LonkJuly 02, 2020 at 04:11AM
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