Airline Industry (Sean Powers)
As of mid March 20, 2020, the nation has been in a lock down, in which preventing majority of all travel. Only those who's occupations deemed to be essential are able to continue work as normal; however, airlines have been dealt what is possible the hardest blow as a whole.
Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastain sits down in front of a camera to discuss what measures he will be taking to ensure the safety of his employees, customers, as well as keeping the future of Delta strong.
Since almost all forms of travel have been prohibited as of recent, only essential travel remains among the roads. One of the most popular forms of mass, and long distance travel, is the airplane. Airline companies have been forces to discontinue practically all of their flights, and even lay off several of their employees due to customers not paying for plane tickets.
“Revenue is probably down, off the top of my head, 50 to 60%,” the airport’s general manager, John Selden, general manager of Atlanta International airport, said on a city council transport committee conference call at the end of March.
“We usually have 2,600 flights a day here, fully loaded. In other words, almost no seats available. Right now, we’re down to 1,200 flights and they’re mostly empty,” Selden said. "The airport is down 85% in passengers," he then added.
As plane companies lose millions and millions of dollars, they soon file for bailout money to prevent from going bankrupt. The total of all companies' asks has come to over 50 billion dollars, yet the federal government is hesitant to pay that. Airlines aren't an essential part of the American economy, and if a few companies go into the red, then it won't be the end of the world.
The employees are also in need of money, and their employers are also not willing to pay the compensation that's desired. So much that several flight attendants have been tested positive for COVID-19 due to being forced to work when they were fearing they'd be fired should they show any form of symptoms.