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Two major U.S. airlines are entering the new year looking to boost travel demand, offering low-fare sales to customers willing to soar after 2020 – a year that has wreaked havoc on the airline industry.
Southwest Airlines launched a one-way ticket sale on Monday to boost travel demand in the spring amid concerns that the resurgence of coronavirus will continue to stifle travel in the first quarter.
The carrier is offering tickets starting at $ 29 each way. The sale ends on Thursday, January 7, and is for trips booked for March and April only.
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Meanwhile, Southwest’s low-cost competitor, JetBlue, announced that it had launched a winter sale that offers one-way tickets starting at $ 49.
The New York-based airline is selling until January 12 and has only listed flights departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Westchester County Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. Customers booking flights between January 16 and June 17 can guarantee a one-way trip to many destinations on the East Coast for less than $ 100.
Some of the cheapest domestic JetBlue flights depart from JFK to Dallas; Buffalo, NY; Burlington, Vt .; Rochester, NY; and Syracuse, NY, for just $ 49. Other international or cross-country flights are being offered mainly for less than $ 200, including vacation spots like Las Vegas, Palm Springs, California and Aruba.
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Sales come in the wake of a sudden increase in travel during the holiday season. Passengers traveled through airports in record numbers before Thanksgiving and between Christmas and New Year’s Eve – even as federal health officials asked Americans to stay home to stop the spread of the virus.
Now that the vacation is over, leisure travelers have even less reason to fly, and airline executives have warned that travel is likely to remain depressed in early 2021.
Bill Tierney, vice president of marketing for Southwest Airlines, told FOX Business that demand for leisure travel remains “fragile” and likely to remain so “for much of 2021”.
“We expect the travel industry to have a long recovery, but we are hopeful as we have seen some growth as we continue to adapt to customers’ needs and expectations,” said Tierney.
In a New Year’s memo, Delta CEO Ed Bastian also told employees that he expects 2021 to start with a deeply depressed trip like last year.
“We are likely to experience two distinct phases over the next 12 months,” said Bastian. “The first will look a lot like 2020, with the demand for travel deeply depressed and our focus on ensuring the health and safety of our staff and customers. “
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Since March, the industry has been toppled by several travel restrictions designed to prevent the virus from spreading. As a result, the airline industry continues to accumulate billions of dollars in losses.
Although the number of passengers is expected to rise above 60% in 2021 from the “depressed base of 2020”, they are still expected to fall by almost 30% compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to the International Air Transport Association.
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The industry trade group estimated that full recovery to 2019 levels is not expected until 2023.
However, Airlines for America, the commercial organization representing the main U.S. airlines, told FOX Business that it projects a 14% to 63% improvement in passenger traffic for U.S. airlines from 2020 to 2021.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.