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 This page is no longer updated but remains a source for looking back on the events our industry weathered during our toughest times.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 15 Apr 2020 Expedia Barry Diller Can’t Retake Control of Expedia Group Just Yet, Court Orders
North America 24 Apr 2020 Government Trump says government should buy years of plane tickets now
North America 01 May 2020 United United Airlines says pandemic is worst crisis in aviation history
North America 05 May 2020 Industry U.S. airlines burn through $10 billion a month as traffic plummets
North America 12 May 2020 Air Canada Air Canada, WestJet could be set for coronavirus help from Canada
North America 13 May 2020 JetBlue JetBlue Still Planning To Launch London A321LR Flights Next Year
North America 19 May 2020 Hawaiian Airlines Lifting 14-day quarantine will be key factor in Hawaiian Airlines’ recovery, says CEO
North America 26 May 2020 Delta Delta Cancels A350 Purchase From LATAM, Continues Joint-Venture Despite LATAM’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing
North America 04 Jun 2020 Delta Delta will cap seating, block middle seats through September
North America 11 Jun 2020 Delta Delta Air Lines offers workers incentives to leave voluntarily
North America 15 Jun 2020 American Airlines American Airlines Strengthens Requirement That Customers Wear Face Coverings on Board
North America 15 Jun 2020 Southwest Southwest To Offer Complimentary Social Distancing Until October
North America 23 Jun 2020 Delta Delta Air Lines Reports 500 Confirmed Coronavirus Cases and 10 Deaths among Staff
North America 29 Jun 2020 United United Airlines to resume China flights on July 8
North America 30 Jun 2020 Industry Despite almost certain job cuts, airlines sell vision of brighter days ahead
APAC 07 Jul 2020 Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Closes Inbound International Reservations
APAC 10 Jul 2020 ANA ANA Calls Off Recruiting for FY 2021 amid Virus Crisis
APAC 15 Jul 2020 Air India Air India Expects Some Staff To Take 5 Years Of Unpaid Leave!
APAC 30 Jul 2020 ANA ANA posts record ¥109 bil net loss in April-June over coronavirus
APAC 29 Jul 2020 SpiceJet SpiceJet Posts $108 Million Loss Due To MAX Grounding And COVID
APAC 04 Aug 2020 Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific To Fly Aircraft For Storage In The Australian Desert
APAC 04 Sep 2020 Virgin Australia Virgin Australia Stays In The Air As Creditors Green Light Sale
APAC 08 Sep 2020 ANA All Nippon Airways to suspend 89% of planned intl frequencies in Sep-2020, 87% in Oct-2020
APAC 14 Sep 2020 Thai Airways Thai Airways aims to hold creditors’ meeting in early 2021
APAC 18 Sep 2020 Government Pre-travel testing a go: Trans-Pacific visitors to get scanned starting Oct. 15
APAC 21 Sep 2020 Air India Air India And Cathay Dragon Receive Hong Kong Flight Bans
APAC 18 Oct 2020 ANA All Nippon Airways: Domestic bookings down 50%, intl down 95% in Oct-2020
APAC 17 Oct 2020 Industry China’s ‘Big Three’ see full domestic traffic recovery in September
APAC 26 Oct 2020 Google Google says COVID boosted OTA usage in APAC
APAC 17 Mar 2020 All Nippon Airways ANA to Reduce Int'l Flights by 60 Pct over Coronavirus
APAC 19 Mar 2020 All Nippon Airways Furloughs 5,000 Cabin Crew
APAC 27 Mar 2020 Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines latest to get massive bailout amid coronavirus crisis
APAC 31 Mar 2020 Air New Zealand Sign Of The Times: Air New Zealand Now A ‘Domestic Airline’
APAC 07 Apr 2020 All Nippon Airways ANA seeks state guarantees as it borrows $12bn
APAC 17 Apr 2020 Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Closes US Bases: 300 Jobs Affected
APAC 18 May 2020 Government Indian Flight Ban Extended Until End Of The Month
APAC 27 May 2020 Government China Mulls Tripling International Flights
APAC 12 Jun 2020 Virgin Australia Virgin Australia Will Add 30,000 Seats In July – But Where Will It Fly?
APAC 06 Jul 2020 Cathay Pacific Cathay Could Send Some Aircraft To Desert Graveyards For Storage
APAC 04 Aug 2020 Qantas Qantas Halts Melbourne Freight Activities Amid COVID Case Spike
APAC 11 Sep 2020 Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines Halts First Class Bookings On Some Routes
APAC 20 Sep 2020 Vietnam Airlines Vietnam Airlines Flies First International Flight Since March
APAC 11 Oct 2020 Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines May Need To Shut Down Without Restructuring
APAC 20 Oct 2020 Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines Returns To New York With World’s Longest Flight
APAC 16 Nov 2020 Korean Air In a deal worth $1.6 billion, Korean Air acquires Asiana Airlines
APAC 07 Dec 2020 Air China Air China to operate 30 international passenger services in 1Q2021
APAC 28 Apr 2020 ANA Japan airline ANA skips earnings forecast, dividend amid virus slump
APAC 29 Apr 2020 IATA Passenger Demand Plunges in March as Travel Restrictions Take Hold
APAC 09 May 2020 Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines Prepares For Its First Full-Year Loss
APAC 14 May 2020 Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Restarts Domestic Network With Inter-Island 787 Flights