The US airline industry is anticipating more people traveling in the coming months. On Thursday, Southwest Airlines launches its plans for its 16th airport in Eugene, Oregon. The airline is going to fly three routes daily to the city from the west coast. Passengers can fly to Eugene, Oregon twice daily from Oakland, and once daily from Las Vegas starting August 29.
Southwest Airlines COO Andrew Watterson said that “a lot of the cities that we’ve announced were on our wish list”. However, due to the lack of aircraft, the airline wasn’t able to meet the demands in these places.
It was also announced by Southwest Airlines that it is going to recall 382 pilots who took their voluntary leave program in preparation for summer. This month alone, the budget airline announced that it would recall 209 pilots and 2,700 flight attendants from June onwards.
Given this announcement, all Southwest captains will return from their voluntary leave program. However, there are still 500 officers that are still on leave.
Airlines are currently focusing on outdoor-friendly destinations considering most people have to stay at home in the past year. Popular destinations include beaches and national parks.
Florida, Wyoming, and Montana are some of the popular places to visit in the US. Outside the US, the Caribbean and Mexico are also popular.
Southwest isn’t the only airline expecting a surge in travelers in the coming months. Though airline executives are still doubtful whether international travel is going to be back by summer, travelers are happy to book domestic flights. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian thinks that “there may be some occasional markets open this summer based on southern Mediterranean leisure traffic”. However, continental Europe is going to be a different story.
Though US aviation numbers are still not at par with their 2019 performance, it is safe to say that the travel demand is up. The TSA recorded more than 1 million passengers daily for the past weeks.
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