TOURISM & AIR TRAVEL: CRASHING

Delta to Lay Off Pilots Amid Ongoing Cost-Cutting. Delta Airlines has sent letters to more than 2,500 pilots warning the company will furlough some of them in an ongoing attempt to cut costs.
The company and its pilots’ union have agreed on terms of early retirement offers that would trim the payroll and reduce the number of pilots to be laid off.
The airline sees recovery to pre-pandemic flight schedules to be at least two years away and “early retirements alone likely won’t be enough to avoid pilot furloughs altogether,” said John Laughter, SVP of Flight Operations.
“Even with the increased travel demand we’ve seen in recent weeks, we expect revenue to be only 25 percent of what it was last summer,” he noted.
Airbus to Slash Jobs. Airbus, the Netherlands-based aircraft builder, will cut its global workforce by 15,000 jobs, or about 10 percent, after seeing the commercial aircraft business shrink by 40 percent during the pandemic-driven economic shutdown.
Workers in Britain, France, Germany, and Spain, will lose their jobs.
The company does not expect air travel to return to pre-pandemic volumes until at least 2023 and perhaps not until 2025, said Airbus CEO Guilliame Faury.
European airlines will lose an estimated $21.5 billion this year, with traffic falling by half, according to a new study by the International Air Transport Association. EasyJet said it might let go over 700 pilots and close its terminals in three British airports.
Airbus competitor Boeing chopped 16,000 jobs in April after its revenue fell by 50 percent during this year’s first quarter, when it received orders for 49 new planes and saw 196 orders canceled.
Tourism Industry Devastated by Losses. The world’s tourism industry has lost $1.2 trillion during the time from March through June when global travel was virtually shut down by government mandate.
Noting that Croatia, Greece, and Portugal earn about 15 percent of their GDP from tourism, and Spain almost as much, the European Commission recommended exempting 15 countries from its travel ban. Residents of the U.S. and other countries where COVID infection rates are rising remain banned; Chinese tourists will be permitted back into Europe when China allows Europeans entry there.
TREND FORECAST: Significant portions of many nations GDP are tourism and hospitality sector dependent, thus they will suffer severe financial hardship.
Beyond the fears and restrictions impeding tourism growth, as the “Greatest Depression” worsens, less people will travel far distances.
“Vacation” and getaway spots close to big cities will grow in popularity as will those that provide camping and outdoor attractions.