More cancellations as COVID-19 cases rise – United Airlines

United Airlines experienced an uptick in travel cancellations and decline in new bookings with the latest rise in COVID-19 cases over the last week, the US airline said Thursday, November 19.

It now expects total capacity in the 4th quarter to decrease “at least” 55% compared with a year ago, it said,  after previously projecting capacity would fall “approximately” 55%.

United “continues to see a significant impact in demand for air travel,” the airline said in a securities filing. “The company does not currently expect the recovery from COVID-19 to follow a linear path.” 

The statement underscores anew how the coronavirus has continued to weigh on travel demand overall and forced airlines to adjust their plane schedules with the ebb and flow of cases.

The US had nearly 162,000 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University. Cases have lingered above 100,000 per day for most of November.

United said it expects 4th quarter revenues to fall by around 67% compared with the same period last year. – Rappler.com