Airlines are continuing to adjust policies and schedules amid cratering demand as Covid-19 outbreak fears intensify.
In a blog post, OAG analyst John Grant said the global hit to capacity so far has been 11 percent. Northeast Asia capacity has taken the biggest hit, down 44.8 percent as of March 9 compared with Jan. 20 levels.
Korean Air, for one, has seen more than 80 percent of its international capacity shut down, as South Korea has faced severe travel restrictions from being an epicenter of one of the larger coronavirus outbreaks. Reuters reported that Korean Air president Woo Kee-hong in a memo said that 100 of 145 of its aircraft have been grounded, and he warned employees that "if the situation continues for a longer period, we may reach the threshold where we cannot guarantee the company's survival."
In Europe to date, the Lufthansa Group has taken some of the most drastic measures in terms of schedule reductions, with a capacity cut of as high as 50 percent underway in the coming weeks. The group in a statement said it "has been exposed to drastic declines in bookings and numerous flight cancellations" due to the virus, and the capacity cut would "reduce the financial consequences of the slump in demand."
In Western Europe, total capacity has declined 5 percent over the last week, with the biggest drops in Italy and Germany, according to Grant. The U.K. also lost 5 percent in capacity last week, though much of that stemmed from the collapse of Flybe.
Among U.S. carriers, JetBlue has joined United Airlines in announcing planned domestic capacity cuts. However, capacity in North America has remained "broadly stable," with capacity as far out as April 20 still running largely close to what was filed earlier this year, Grant said.
Carriers are continuing to adjust their change fee policies as well. Delta Air Lines, for example, on Monday said it is now waiving change fees on all international and domestic travel through April 30 regardless of when the ticket was issued as well as for any flight bought in the month of March. United, meanwhile, last weekend changed its policy regarding schedule changes to increase the involuntary refund threshold for schedule changes from two hours to 25 hours, meaning passengers might not get refunds if their flight is changed within that threshold; however, it also has waived change fees for any flight booked through the end of the month. United said that most schedule changes will still allow passengers to be accommodated within a few hours of their original flight even after the recent reduction.
Amtrak has also begun making adjustments due to decreased business travel demand. It has suspended its three nonstop services between New York and Washington through late May. In addition, Amtrak is waiving change fees on any reservations through April 30.