United Airlines is already prepping for winter as the airline announced on Friday that they are adding 150 flights to different warm spots in the US. Of the additional 150 flights, they are catering more flights to beach destinations including Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The airline expects to have a better turnout than 2019 for places like California and Florida by winter.
This is an indication that domestic travel is back. Thanks to the successful vaccination rollout in the US, many are now confident to travel once again.
United Airlines isn’t the only airline that has revamped its winter schedule. Unlike United, Delta targeted ski destinations such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Aspen. For budget airline Spirit Airlines, they are adding domestic flights plus bring back its international flights coming from Orlando.
From Staying Afloat to Struggling to Keep Up
In 2020, airlines had to cut their workforces as they needed to stay afloat. There were pilots who took early retirements while others took temporary leave-of-absence. Then, the industry received $54 billion in federal relief aid from the government to survive.
Fast forward to 2021, as more people are traveling, airlines had to recall their employees. And this time around, airlines are struggling to keep up with the current travel demand. And unfortunately, some pilots are still retraining and not yet able to fly.
Southwest and American struggled to keep up with the current volume of travelers. In July, both airlines had to cancel around 3% of their flights. Plus, there are also the delayed flights. In June, Southwest had 40% delayed flights and 3% were canceled. As for American, 31% were delayed and 4% were canceled according to the data produced by FlightAware.
Because of the overwhelming number of travelers, airlines are currently hiring. United Airlines already announced that they are going to need around 25,000 employees by 2026. This announcement was made after the airline announced a massive order of new planes. The airline announced adding 270 Boeing and Airbus planes.
