For Carriers, Covid Leaves an Unruly Legacy

During the past two years, flying the friendly skies for many business travelers went the way of free hot meals in coach on domestic flights. As air demand begins to rally, flirting with or exceeding 2019 levels thanks to a leisure boom, that surge has come with an uptick in unruly passengers—mostly due to incidents involving noncompliance to the federal mask mandate, currently in place through April 18.

The number of U.S. unruly passenger incidents spiked in 2021 to 5,981 with 4,290 mask-related, after remaining relatively steady for several years through 2020, according to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The trend is beginning to reverse itself, however, with 1,035 incidents—668 related to masks—reported this year through March 28.

Some industry suppliers and organizations, led by Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, have requested the government enact a no-fly list for unruly passengers. The Biden administration hasn’t weighed in yet, but there certainly are two sides to the issue. 

Bastian and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, have argued that it’s not safe for employees to deal with such incidents, and banning perpetrators from one airline does not preclude them from flying on another. McIndoe Risk Advisory president Bruce McIndoe told BTN the prospect of a no-fly list would be “awesome, as it takes it out of the hands of airlines, which have no consistent protocols.” Takeda global head of travel, meetings and events Michelle De Costa also said she thinks it’s a good idea and hopes she’d be informed if any of her company’s travelers were involved in an incident while respecting privacy protocol.

Others, however, have argued against the list, including eight Republican U.S. Senators who sent an opposition letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland as well as J.D. Power practice lead for travel and director of the airport practice Mike Taylor, who told BTN that Bastian’s request “was well-reasoned, but not very specific about what would get you banned.”

Many carriers banned the sale of alcohol on flights in order to curb the rough behavior, but those sales are returning. The likelihood of business travelers having to deal with an unruly passenger, however, currently is diminished because air’s business travel segment has a way to go before hitting any 2019-level recovery benchmarks. 

After many carriers reported upticks in business bookings during 2021 third-quarter earnings calls, the Covid-19 omicron variant from the end of November put a hiccup in that recovery during the following months. By March, however, corporate bookings resumed their upward trajectory, according to multiple airlines, which have been predicting strong demand through spring and summer. 

Delta Air Lines recently told BTN it expects its business travel segment to be 65 percent recovered by the end of the first quarter. American Airlines projects 66 percent recovery in April, while United Airlines said at a recent J.P. Morgan conference it was close to 75 percent recovered.

Route Changes, Fuel Prices, Fare Increases

Major cancellations at the beginning of the year due to employee Covid-19 cases and bad weather caused carriers to trim their schedules the first quarter. Further, some carriers, including American and United, reduced schedules because of delivery delays for Boeing 787 Dreamliner orders. In addition, the four largest U.S. airlines have noted challenges with pilot shortages, especially for their regional routes. This has led to cancellations in some secondary and tertiary markets. 

The carriers have increased pay and incentives to lure workers back. But in the meantime, the removal of some direct routes means more connections, more time in the air and less time in meetings and offices. And higher prices.

Demand already is outstripping supply, with many planes flying full, causing prices to rise. High fuel prices also are pushing up airfares, even though no U.S.-based carrier has announced any fuel surcharges. Since Jan. 31, when the minimum business fare was $515 and the total average fare was $221, according to the Cowen and Co. Fare Tracker, prices have soared. As of March 21, the minimum business fare was $906, and the total average fare was $395. 

Just as some countries around the world began to loosen or drop their Covid-19 entry restrictions, easing international travel, fuel prices and rerouted flights because of the conflict in Ukraine also have contributed to higher fares. 

Still, industry executives have reported immediate bumps in ticket sales as soon as these international entry requirements and restrictions are lifted. They also have said that higher fares have not negatively affected sales, given so much pent-up demand to travel, be it leisure or business.

Sustainability Focus

Meanwhile, the pandemic at least in part spurred some suppliers to focus more attention on sustainability efforts. Carriers are adding sustainability officers, adding more fuel-efficient aircraft to fleets and setting carbon-neutral goals. Corporations have, too, and are increasingly asking travel managers to provide sustainability reports for business travel. This has led to carriers making agreements to not only purchase sustainable aviation fuel but also to help develop it, for some carriers to offset corporate account CO2 emissions, and for others to launch sustainability programs for corporate customers, including JetBlue and United, which recently made available a sustainability dashboard and report for corporate clients to track their carbon footprints. 

In addition, the International Air Transportation Association is waiting on approval for its new CO2 calculation methodology, which is expected in the coming weeks.

Airport Changes

The U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden in November, provides $15 billion for airport-related projects, which can include investments in runways, taxiways, safety and sustainability projects, terminal, airport-transit connections and roadway projects, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. For fiscal year 2022, the government made $2.89 billion available to U.S. airports.

Business travelers might not recognize their regular hubs when they return to travel. Some airports already had improvement projects underway and used the downtime during the pandemic to push through projects. One example is the revamped and consolidated Terminals 2 and 3 for Delta at Los Angeles International Airport, scheduled to open April 20—18 months ahead of its initial schedule. 

New York’s LaGuardia Airport revamped and reopened its Terminal B during the pandemic. Across Queens, John F. Kennedy International Airport also is getting an overhaul, including British Airways consolidating its operations into American’s Terminal 8 later this year. And nearby Newark Liberty International Airport is getting a new Terminal A. All these projects will include new and expanded lounges. More openings are on tap to debut between 2022 and 2026.

Technology plays a key role in some changes, with the Transportation Security Administration testing and rolling out automated screening lanes, biometrics technology like facial recognition and “credential authentication technology,” in which ID authentication, reservation verification and Secure Flight pre-screening status are “known in ‘near’ real-time” at airport security checkpoints.