Norwegian Air will cancel 3000 flights, Korean Air has slashed capacity by 80 percent and US carriers are cutting flying as fear of the coronavirus outbreak continues to outpace the disease itself.
The crisis is the worst for the travel industry since the global financial crisis and possibly the 9/11 terrorist attack on the US.
It comes as nervous travelers stay home and companies ban staff from traveling, hitting the high-yield premium market.
This is despite fare sales and attempts to assuage fears with waivers, detailed accounts of aircraft cleaning and the fact the chances of catching the bug on an aircraft are extremely low.
READ: Qantas seeks Sunrise order delay from Airbus
In the US, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines announced deeper cuts as demand slumped.
American said it would cut international capacity by 10 percent this northern summer and domestic capacity by 7.5 percent.
Delta said it would slash international flights from 20 to 25 percent and domestic flights by up to 15 percent.
Delta chief executive Ed Bastian told a JP Morgan conference the impact of the coronavirus was akin to what the industry saw in 9/11.
But he said there was nothing to suggest there would not be a recovery by the end of the year and said he expected it to be as sharp as the fall in demand.
Norwegian said the cuts between mid-March and mid-June represented about 15 percent of total capacity and would affect the entire network.
It had also put in place other measures including temporarily laying off a “significant share’ of its workforce.
“This is a critical time for the aviation industry, including us at Norwegian,’’ Norwegian chief executive Jacob Schram said.
“We encourage the authorities to immediately implement measures to imminently reduce the financial burden on the airlines in order to protect crucial infrastructure and jobs.
“Unfortunately, cancellations will affect a significant share of our colleagues at Norwegian.
“We have initiated formal consultations with our unions regarding temporary layoffs for flying crew members as well as employees on the ground and in the offices.
“We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with unions and employees to work through this difficult situation together.”
Airlines around the world are slashing capacity as demand falls,
Korean Air chief executive Woo Kee Hong has warned the virus could threaten the airline’s survival after it cuts capacity by 80 percent due to travel restrictions, compared to 18 percent during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
He told staff in an email that the airline had grounded 100 of its 145 aircraft, deterred investments, cut operational expenses and was encouraging employees to take leave. The aircraft groundings include its Airbus A380 superjumbos.
“But if the situation continues for a longer period, we may reach the threshold where we cannot guarantee the company’s survival,” Reuters reported him as saying in the message.
All Nippon Airways on Wednesday announced a slew of capacity reductions on domestic routes affecting flights from Tokyo Haneda, Itami, Sapporo. Fukuoka and Naha.
Other airlines to further slash capacity in recent days include Qantas and Air New Zealand.
The Qantas Group will slash international capacity by almost a quarter and ground most of its fleet of A380s and it reduces flying to the US and Europe as well as Asia.
READ: Qantas slashes international capacity, grounds A380s.
Air New Zealand is cutting capacity across its operations by 10 percent, including a 26 percent reduction into Asia.
Many airlines have also stopped trying to estimate what the crisis will cost them, with both Qantas and Air New Zealand withdrawing their fiscal 2020 guidance.
The cuts are affecting airports and Airports Council International predicted this week that global airport traffic volumes will be down 12 percent on previous expectations with revenues down $US4.3 billion. Asia-Pacific airports will be hardest hit with an expected 24 percent traffic all.
This is much less than the up to $US113 billion airlines could lose.
READ: Forecast COVID-19 airline impact soars as high as $US113 billion.
The number of global confirmed cases of the virus was approaching 120,000 late Tuesday (US time) with 4,262 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
However, more than half of those afflicted with the illness had recovered and the number of new cases reported in China has slowed markedly.
Italy, which is now in lockdown, has the most number of cases (10,149 at the time of writing) and deaths (631) outside China. It is followed by Iran and South Korea.
