Gordon Bethune: biz travel still weak
 

Just sharing this...

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/07/1...rline-ceo.html

The higher end biz travel is going like crazy. NetJets just had to suspend fractional sales of light cabin jets (Phenom 300, Excel) because demand is outstripping the supply of jets and pilots. They said it was the highest demand they've ever seen and the company has been around for decades.

The airlines are desperate to gain back the “Concierge Key” type of business.
It is gone to the likes of FlexJet, netjetz and AirShare.

Don’t expect it back anytime soon. They are enjoying the flexibility and customer service.
Airlines will have to rebuild on the common plebes dollar bills.

Back to school September and onward TSA numbers will be interesting.

Federal mask mandate will have to go away for those people to return imo. If you have the money to travel through an FBO onto a private plane where you never have a mask nazi scream at you because you're not putting your mask back on between each sip of your wine and each bite of your sandwich, why would you EVER subject yourself to that?

Nailed it!

We are stuck at 2 million until the admin allows outside countries to travel here. We are allowed to travel to other places with a negative test but others are not allowed in here. Until that happens we will be stuck in the 75% of 2019 numbers.

And that is pretty full for domestic.

Very full. Which is great, but I think it’s our max for a while.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021...ng-anyway.html

I love the term “revenge travel” in this article.

The airports are a frappin zoo. Third airline five days into an 8 day tour. Good news for airline employees, absolute hell for those forced to ride hither and yon.

Yep. On Th-Fr and Su-Mo they are thinking about setting up deck chairs on the wings.

Need all furloughed pilots through requal. Need to hire and train new pilots to replace those that retired / staff additional planes.

Checks and maintenance on all the planes parked in the desert. Delivery of some of the new planes on order. (AA retired all the MD80, E190, 757, 767, and A330. Small percentage (10% of the overall fleet), simplifies fleets to 2 NB and 2 WB, simplifies training. Right long term corporate strategy. But they need replacements now, and pilots to fly them now.)

International travel needs to come back. (Australia is continuing to lock down Sydney and Victoria as tight as can be, as an example.)

interesting indeed. Don't both the current mask mandate and government cheese end in September?

Not when people start getting sick again (like they do every year) this fall.

You really think this administration will let that come to an end?

if I had to guess I would say no more cheese but that's just a guess because political considerations are always a factor. I would say its a tough sell to a flying public that sees terminals as chaotic zoos (as opposed to the quiet terminal at Atlantic Aviation for the well heeled)now that airlines need another bailout. IF another bailouts does materialize then that calls into question in my mind if the current airline business model is sustainable long term especially for carriers that rely heavily on business travel.

I was referring to the mask mandate.

Given the Delta Variant running amok I agree. Back in the day TSA was the considered the best thing to happen to the private charter industry now it's the mask mandate.

Delta variant is becoming a factor at the perfect time. Average hospital entry time to death is 2 to 3 weeks. Today is mid-July.

Summer winding down soon, peak business travel months of September and October coming up.

Soon it will be April 2020 again

"Due to the unknown situation with COVID, all pilot hiring has been stopped. Thank you for considering us for employment."

Yep, just look at the photos of the Texas Legislature Democrats who had someone charter a CRJ-200 from Austin to DC. Not a mask in sight.