Delta Variant Concerns Rise As Air Travel Demand Falls

Travel demand bounced back starting from spring to summer this year as vaccines became available in the US. Exhausted of lockdowns and travel restrictions, Americans spent $6 billion on domestic flights in June. Then, the delta variant cases changed all that. As delta variant concerns rise among travelers, air travel demand fell from July onwards.

Adobe’s Digital Economy Index discovered that domestic online flight bookings in July dropped to $5.26 billion. This represents a 13% drop from June and 16% lower than 2019 levels. August’s air travel demand fell even harder. From August 1 to 21, only $2.9 billion was spent on domestic flights.

Delta Variant Concerns

According to Vivek Pandya, lead analyst of Adobe Digital Insights, “US consumers are taking the Delta variant seriously and once again shifting their travel plans”. He added that “At the current rate, we expect spend in the month of August to be significantly under July”.

You also have states that are also worried about the possible surge of COVID cases. Hawaii’s governor even said that it’s not the best time to travel to the state. Also, more cities are bringing back mask mandates and even requiring COVID vaccinations if you’re going to enter indoor businesses.

Challenging Months Ahead for the Airline Industry

Data from the airline industry coincides with that of Adobe Digital Insight’s numbers. American Airlines reported their August revenue to be lower than their projections as COVID cases negatively affected air travel demand. Southwest, Frontier, and Spirit are also facing the same problems.

Adobe discovered that domestic flight bookings for Labor Day Weekend this year are down 16% compared to Labor Day weekend in 2019.

In a recent survey conducted by Longwoods International market research company, almost two-thirds of travelers are changing their travel plans because of COVID concerns. That’s up from 43% just two months ago. Apart from travelers changing their plans, Longwood also discovered that 36% of American travelers are pushing back their travel plans to either later this year or early next year, because of the delta variant. That’s a jump from 24% last month.

Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International said that “summer travel boom is at risk of stalling out”.