The Week In Travel

Leading US airlines this week painted an optimistic picture for the future of the travel industry in their latest forecasts. Despite posting a net loss of $434 million in its Q2 financial results, United Airlines said this exceeded expectations, as long haul and business travel has accelerated even faster than expected. United said it now expects to be profitable in the third quarter of 2021, with “a full recovery in demand anticipated by 2023”.

At the same time, American Airlines president Robert Isom said business travel demand has “started to return in a meaningful way” in the second quarter of this year. Domestic business revenues at the company grew from around 20% of 2019 levels in March to around 45% of 2019 levels in June. It is now anticipating a full recovery of domestic business travel in 2022.

In travel retailer news, Lagardère Travel Retail and Lima Airport Partners (LAP) have signed a profit-sharing agreement for duty free stores at Jorge-Chávez International Airport in Peru. The deal is designed to better balance risks and benefits between the two groups, and will also lead to the launch of duty free brand Aelia at the airport.

In terms of consumer confidence, the latest passenger survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) found that the majority of passengers are confident in the safety of air travel and support mask-wearing during flights. Of the 4,700 travellers surveyed, 86% said they felt safe on an aircraft due to the COVID-19 measures in place, while 83% strongly back mask wearing while onboard.

And finally, American author Carlos Whittaker helped raise an incredible $60,000 for a struggling musician he saw playing piano at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. After speaking to the man, called Tonee, and learning of his ongoing battle with kidney disease, Whittaker challenged his 170,000 Instagram followers to leave the biggest tip they could for his new friend – with kind-hearted fans raising $10,000 in just 35 minutes.