COVID-19 News Roundup

Tracking the impact of the pandemic on travel

COVID-19 News Roundup

When the pandemic was first declared in March 2020, ATPCO understood the value of keeping track of industry-related news in the quickly changing environment. We tracked aviation news and developments from the start of the pandemic through December 2020. This page is no longer updated but remains a source for looking back on the events our industry weathered during our toughest times. We are now looking forward to recovery and a post-recovery world.

   
Region Date Organization Summary
North America 14 Dec 2020 Southwest Southwest Airlines Continues To Grow With New Domestic Routes
North America 16 Mar 2020 Delta Implementing a hiring freeze and voluntary unpaid leave
North America 17 Mar 2020 Delta Delta to operate passenger planes as freighters for charters
North America 20 Mar 2020 Air Canada Over 5,000 layoffs
North America 03 Apr 2020 United United Airlines says revenue is down by $100M a day
North America 15 Apr 2020 Delta Delta Takes Over $3B Airbus A350 Order From LATAM
North America 17 Apr 2020 Southwest Southwest Eyes Hawaii Expansion Post Coronavirus
North America 19 Mar 2020 COVID-19 Airlines Are No. 1 Priority for Virus Relief, Trump Says
North America 26 Apr 2020 Delta Delta to park A320s, many 737s for length of coronavirus downturn
North America 28 Apr 2020 Delta Delta seeks to suspend service to some airports
North America 30 Apr 2020 American Airlines American Airlines: Smaller Airline Won't Mean Fewer Hubs
North America 14 May 2020 Delta Delta to retire Boeing 777s as pandemic dims outlook for international travel
North America 14 May 2020 Delta Delta Air Lines reveals plan to retire its Boeing 777 fleet
North America 21 May 2020 United United Airlines Will Try to Avoid Further Job Cuts
North America 27 May 2020 Air Canada Air Canada seeks to raise more than $1B to boost cash position
North America 28 May 2020 United New United Airlines CEO Says No To Bankruptcy and Mandating Blocked Middle Seats
North America 30 May 2020 Government Alaska to require COVID-19 testing for air travelers coming into the state
North America 15 Jun 2020 Delta Delta to Add Almost 1,000 Flights in July
North America 18 Jun 2020 Government Puerto Rico Announces It Will Be Open For Travelers On July 15th
North America 22 Jun 2020 Government Do U.S. Airlines Have a Legal Right to Bar Passengers Who Don’t Wear Masks?
North America 25 Jun 2020 United United Air boosts debt offering to $6.8B on demand surge
North America 30 Jun 2020 American Airlines American Airlines shows off new cleaning, safety measures; health officials slam airline for resuming full flights
North America 03 Jul 2020 Air Canada Canada PM disappointed by Air Canada move to suspend domestic flights
North America 07 Jul 2020 Expedia Expedia signals private accommodation could be the recovery leader
North America 07 Jul 2020 Delta Delta signs letter of intent for CARES Act loan
North America 20 Jul 2020 American Airlines American Airlines Revamps Check-in, Baggage Drop-off As Contactless Experience
North America 28 Jul 2020 Delta Delta’s Updated Mask Policy Bans This Type of Face Covering
North America 30 Jul 2020 Delta Delta CEO sends staff memo thanking 17,000 employees for leaving, says it gets airline closer to ‘minimizing furloughs’
North America 13 Aug 2020 Southwest Southwest Airlines expects 'modest' demand for as long as COVID-19 cases are high: CEO
North America 17 Aug 2020 United United Airlines Further Cuts Onboard Catering
North America 21 Aug 2020 Government A way to travel in Hawaii? Government unveils 'resort bubble' concept to hop between islands
North America 27 Aug 2020 Delta Delta adding in-flight hand sanitizing stations during pandemic
North America 09 Sep 2020 Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian Airlines expects Q3 capacity to decline ~87% with cash burn of ~$3M/day
North America 10 Sep 2020 JetBlue JetBlue Eyes Expansion Announcing 24 New Routes
North America 10 Sep 2020 JetBlue JetBlue says it's not getting rid of change fees for good
North America 21 Sep 2020 Delta Delta CEO: Time for all travel sectors to “join arms” to drive safety and rebuild traveler confidence
North America 22 Sep 2020 United United Airlines Will Remain Half Its Size Until Vaccine Is Widely Distributed: CEO
North America 26 Sep 2020 Westjet WestJet Expands COVID-19 Cover To Include The United States
North America 08 Oct 2020 Delta Harvard Study Validates Delta Air Lines’ COVID-19 Cleaning Protocols
North America 07 Oct 2020 Government Hawaii pushes forward with tourism despite safety concerns
North America 16 Oct 2020 Delta Delta is the Latest Airline to Reintroduce Middle Seats
North America 16 Oct 2020 Industry U.S. Transportation Command Study Finds Risk of Covid-19 Transmission Very Low on Aircraft
North America 19 Oct 2020 Industry TSA Crosses Million-Passenger Threshold in Daily Screenings
North America 23 Oct 2020 Sabre Sabre, Google to launch tech platform driving personalization in travel
North America 09 Nov 2020 American Airlines American Airlines Expands Pre-flight Testing
North America 16 Nov 2020 American Airlines American Airlines Proposes The Sale Of 38.5 Million Shares
North America 16 Mar 2020 United Cuts capacity by 50%
North America 18 Mar 2020 Air Canada Air Canada suspend international flights
North America 20 Apr 2020 United United Airlines reports $2.1B quarterly loss
North America 17 Mar 2020 Industry Airlines are doing away with middle seats and beverage service