COVID19: Air Travel Then & Now
32 min read
32 min read
Aryxe has dived in deep and analyzed the challenges all business areas are facing due to Covid19. The results of this ongoing, thorough investigation will be presented in the series of articles that will follow. You will learn more about the businesses that will be facing loss on one end and those who will gain advantage of the current situation on the other. Most importantly, we will outline the options and advice for the businesses to adopt in order to stay afloat during these unprecedented times. In this article, which is the very first in the series, we will discuss what air travel meant to the world before the Covid19 outbreak. In addition to that, we will look back at the history of aviation and the development of civilian air travel over the past century. Finally, we will supply you with an in-depth analysis of the actual impact of Covid19 on the aviation industry and discuss the possible scenarios that may unravel the new era of air travel in the post-Covid19 world.
Aleksandra Gagic
Heraclitus once implied that the only constant in life is change. And, there seems to be a common agreement on that front as change appears to be ubiquitous. There are individual changes happening in one’s life and those that can strike the entire humanity at once. The latter seems to have been unfolding in the past few months as everyone in the world is facing a threat hidden behind a disease – Covid19.
Usually, any type of change, a new series of events, tends to push people into reflecting about the past. With the travel bans and flight restrictions that put the majority of flights on halt, I turned to thinking about the way things were “back in the day”.
Once our everyday life is put on hold, which no one is ever really prepared for, we find ourselves overwhelmed with appreciation for things we once took for granted.
The aviation industry made this planet smaller in a way, by making it possible to fly from one place to another. However, the process of air travel development wasn’t as smooth as we may think. It went along with numerous obstacles and traveling in the past was a lot different than what we now know. Not so long ago, you had to pay an arm and a leg in order to onboard a commercial flight. Flying was a lot of things back then, but it was not cheap. To put it into perspective, let’s compare my personal experience from 2015 and my friends’ first flying experience from 1990.
In order to afford his first ever ticket and fly from Zurich to Dakar, Stephan Muehlemann – the CEO and Co-Founder of Aryxe, had to pay around 2.500 Swiss Francs for the trip, which when adjusted for inflation is around 4.500 Swiss Francs today. In fact, for that same route, the price you’d be paying today is up to 4 times lower. Still, traveling in the late 80s and early 90s wasn’t the nicest experience you can imagine. In fact, it was extremely expensive and utterly complicated. Stephan’s experience is very valuable to me because I was able to learn what it was like to onboard a flight years ago, first-hand! Back then, smoking was allowed, which inevitably made flying uncomfortable for the non-smokers. Additionally, not having online marketing ticket sales, passengers were obligated to deal with paper tickets with numerous copies. On top of that, for long-haul flights the airlines needed the passengers to call 24 hours prior to the onboarding and confirm their presence on the flight, regardless of the fact that they had already paid for the ticket. Overall, flying during these times was neither luxurious nor simple, and, on top of that, it was not cheap yet.
On the other hand, my story begins with a direct flight from Belgrade to Paris, which had the initial cost of €150 for a round trip. I booked my ticket using my smartphone – innovation introduced through online marketing ticket sales. However, getting everything right using your phone can be quite a nerve-racking experience since you really don’t have an easy option to transfer the ticket with online marketing ticket sales nowadays. My flight got cancelled due to the November 2015 Paris attacks. So, after an email exchange with the airline’s customer support, I got a voucher and then booked a round trip to Paris for €50. At the security check, I was stripped to my socks along with the rest of the passengers, my toothpaste seemed suspicious so they threw it away and this flight had no free meals or drinks on board. On the other hand, I was able to charge my phone by hooking it to the USB port on the seat and connect to the in-flight wifi – the perks of flying today.
Bottom line is, flying today can be ridiculously cheap and, unless you are flying premium, long gone are the times when you could eat your freshly baked salmon served on an actual plate, with a glass of wine while flying economy, as you could do in the Golden Age of travel, which was during the 50s and 60s. You may wonder what happened and the answer is simple: standardization. The process of making anything and everything conform to a standard inevitably hit aviation as well. And, standardization of air travel doesn’t necessarily mean deterioration because deciding on what’s more comfortable and convenient is relative. Some people will say that having their phone and settling for a tuna sandwich wrapped in plastic foil is still better than munching on some roast beef all suited up. Still, what we can all agree on is that the aviation industry has grown substantially and everyone is eager to see what the future holds for it.
Let’s go back and look at the very beginnings that spurred development of aviation. In 1914, in an effort to make traveling less troublesome, PE Fansler decided to bring in flying boats that were built by Thomas Benoist, a pioneer of American Aviation. This was the world’s very first scheduled airline using a winged aircraft, which makes the event even more special. The starting point was St. Petersburg, Florida and the flight was planned to end in Tampa. An auction was held for the first round-trip ticket. And, the winner was a bidder who offered $400, which, when adjusted for inflation, is equal to over $10k today. The winner of this auction was the mayor of St. Petersburg, Abram C. Pheil, who then boarded the wooden aircraft with an open cockpit and went for a 23-minute flight that rarely went over 5-feet in altitude (1.5 meters) above the water of Tampa Bay. So, it’s quite astonishing to think that one single passenger from a century ago led to a development of an industry where around 8 million people are flying every single day, according to IATA.
Of course, going from a seaplane to what we have today wasn’t a smooth and a quick transition. Still, seaplanes and all the designs that followed were the crucial first steps towards the “shrinkage” of the planet. Additionally, in the early 20th century, the Daily Mail was offering a number of prizes for aviation achievements. One of the prizes meant getting £10,000 for the first ever transatlantic flight. And this was one of the crucial moments in the history of aviation when John Alcock and Arthur W. Brown, who had a little flying experience, started their journey from Newfoundland all the way to Ireland. Regardless of numerous hiccups they had during their flight in a Vimy, a night bomber that wasn’t used during war, they made it to a faraway destination and became the greatest inspiration for what’s yet to come.
Aviation was going through its most dramatic technological advancement period during World War II. In fact, it took only 6 years to go from biplanes to jet fighters, which paints a clear picture of how fast this growth was. Consequently, the first time when the number of passengers flying exceeded the number of those going by rail was in 1957. The following year, Britain’s de Havilland Comet became the first ever jet airliner to cross the Atlantic. Soon after the UK’s great achievement came Boeing 707, which was ready to challenge the crown.
Another great step was made in the ‘70s. This is the time when wide-bodied airliners, such as the Boeing 747, were starting to step onto the scene. Having bigger planes really meant having more seats. As a result, the ticket sale increased. Finally, selling more tickets really meant cutting down the ticket price and the trips that were being linked to the rich started being affordable to the wider public.
We’re certain that the first passenger on a seaplane felt exquisite. They knew that they were onto something of great value. Still, we are uncertain whether they could imagine that a century later the world will have aircrafts such as the Airbus A380, which is the largest passenger plane out there and can carry up to 850 passengers, depending on the seat arrangement. Plus, today we have super non-stop flights being offered thanks to a higher demand for flying without stops, more affordable oil prices and more fuel-efficient airliners. In fact, in 2019 Qantas broke a record with its QF7879 flight going from London to Sydney, which became the world’s longest passenger flight by a commercial airline both for distance, at 17,800 kilometers (about 11,060 miles), and for duration in the air, at 19 hours and 19 minutes.
Knowing where it all started, we can truly appreciate the magnitude of the air travel development. This is a groundbreaking invention that led to the “planet 2shrinkage” and the world where you can hop from one place to another in a matter of hours.
Safety-wise, there is an obvious improvement compared to the flight regulations in the ‘50s and ‘60s, not to mention earlier times. With all the sharp edges in the cabins, glass partitions, inferior seat belts, looser regulations for pilot training and a vast number of mechanical problems, being injured from turbulence and mid-air collisions was much more common back then. On top of that, every now and then an airplane would get hijacked, which isn’t the case today. In fact, between the years of 1968 and 1972 there were 130 US airplane hijackings.
The way we fly today, with cheap traveling options and direct flights, more and more people have access to the delights of the skies. Now, traveling more isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it most definitely drives the economy. In general, tourism can be a great source of income filling up a countries’ budget. And, there are certain perks that we really wouldn’t have if there weren’t for air travel. However, too much of anything in life usually leads to discontent. Cities flooded with tourists 365 days a year turned out to be tiresome for their actual residents. And, this has led not only to discontent but to severe hostility towards tourists. Consequently, certain destinations are being over-crowded, severely polluted and the damage is non-neglectable. So, let’s take a look at the actual process of air travel development over the past century.
Now that we know where and how it all started, let’s try to understand how it felt to be part of this development process.
During the 1910s, aviation was in its nascent stages. Aircrafts at that time were truly uncomfortable. Cockpits were open, meaning the pilots needed to be wrapped up in leather and wool in order to protect themselves from the weather. And, given that there were no pressurized cabins, they were flying on fairly low altitudes. Although the speed and height were a far cry from what we have now, having aircrafts and flying at that time was a great starting point.
Thinking about the very first passenger-oriented flights, we find ourselves in the 1920s when, truth be told, flights were exciting but still incredibly uncomfortable. Airplanes at that time had limited capacities. In fact, they were able to carry a maximum of 20 passengers and reach a maximum of 100 kph, which was actually slower than using the railway. In addition to that, they needed to stop to refuel every once in a while and they could only travel by day.
Arriving in the 1930’s, planes have stewardesses, whose sole goal was to make passengers feel comfortable. Additionally, plane seats were padded and heated. Planes were now flying at higher altitudes and doubling their speed. The interior of an airplane was all about innovation and comfort. This meant having reclining chairs, swiveling seats, couches, and extra space. This decade was marked by having flying boats and air ships. Flying was still very noisy but we’re now talking about plush armchairs, fine china and even separate restrooms for ladies and gentlemen. Naturally, these were the times when flying was limited to the A-list and the ticket prices were only really affordable to the wealthy. Unsurprisingly, the services attracted passengers with global status, with US president Franklin D Roosevelt and UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill both known to have used Clipper services.
Going into the years of WWII, aircrafts were being built for war purposes. Therefore, things really shifted from commercial to war use. And, after the war, both the US and Europe were left with a lot of unused aircrafts, long runways, and airbases, which paved the way for commercialization of airports and standardization of air travel as we know it now. Additionally, this is where aircrafts with pressurized cabins really start to crowd the skies, leading to more comfort, higher altitudes and even higher speeds.
Post-war environment opened the door for what we call the Golden Age of travel. Flying experience in the 50s was not just a question of transferring people from one spot to another, it was expensive and particularly glamorous. The cost of a round trip from Chicago to Phoenix was $138, which when accounted for today’s inflation is $1.200. And, a one-way ticket from US to Europe would cost around $3,000 in today’s dollars.The 50s were also marked by the unveiling of the Lockheed Super Constellation Model L-049, boasting unheard-of refinements, which made it a plane ahead of its time.
Here we enter the era of a more mundane approach – the era of relaxation. We shouldn’t really go too far and imagine that passengers would be travelling in their sweatshirts and leggings as they do today. In fact, they were still way more glamorous than what you’d normally see at the airport today. Still, there is now a broader audience among flyers and flying in the ‘60s became extremely popular for business travelers.
It was all about the groove. There was free alcohol flowing and, in coach, you would be getting a bottle of champagne with free shots to take home as a souvenir from your flight. Additionally, the interior of planes was complementary to the party-never-stops attitude. To paint the picture, you should know that the US Luxury Fleet of 747 jets had a piano and a cocktail bar as well.
The ‘80s continued with enjoyment. You could still smoke, enjoy free liquor, nice meals and check as many bags as you like! The period between the late ‘80s and early ‘90s is when we can see a shift from a truly glamorous service, popular among the wealthier travelers, to an even broader audience. Prices were still rather high but not as high as they once were, opening the door to an increased number of travelers, which essentially led the way for less comfort and a somewhat deteriorated service overall.
The ‘90s are all about tech developments. The aviation naturally followed along. So, planes started introducing in-flight entertainments and seats equipped with phones. Slowly but surely approaching what we have today. What’s more, budget airlines started stepping onto the scene. Low-cost carriers started stealing the show back in the ‘70s in the US and in the ‘90s in Europe. First example was Southwest Airlines, a pioneer in low-cost flights from Dallas, TX, and what would later turn out to be the biggest airline in the US and the second biggest airline in the world. While in Europe, Heathrow Airport has been and continues to be the world’s’ busiest airport, which also meant that airlines operated a virtual monopoly and the prices they were charging were astronomical. This has been challenged by a founder of Skytrain flights, offering cheap flights from London to the US. Consequently, RyanAir and EasyJet followed this budget flying trend and made a huge difference by opening a neglected London airport, Stansted, designed by Foster & Partners and envisioned as the pathway to air travel of the future. The 90s were laying the groundwork for a different concept of air travel, as the budget airlines were putting pressure on flagship carriers. Flying got cheaper and much simpler, so the model looked viable, as you pay less, you start to travel more.
After 9/11, a lot has changed. Until then, the security check wasn’t as tight as it is today and the passengers would be able to onboard with pocket knives, liquids and bulky jackets. On top of that, the family and friends could follow them all the way through the gate. However, after the 9/11 events all this changed and the airport security became extremely rigid, which was a huge shift in the way we travel. In addition to that, there was a huge shift in the complexity of booking a ticket, as online booking became a new standard. New routes were being established, which led to a higher number of flights and lower ticket prices.
Looking back at the last decade, this is exactly the time when we welcomed an era of budget airliners. Smaller airports were getting cleared for flying, new routes got introduced – so much so that in 2016, according to IATA, a record 18,000 city pairs were connected by air and 700 new routes were introduced that same year. Flying became a mass phenomenon in the 2010s as this trend led to local airlines getting cheaper and a development of a fee-on-everything concept. So now, you’ll most probably end up paying a fee to pick a seat, get more leg space, take a carry-on bag with you, cancel or change your flight, connect to wifi, get snacks or drinks and onboard the plane with priority. What is considered a premium feature or luxury today, was a part of the common service when flying economy back in the day. Air travel in the 2010s is, thanks to the budget airliners, affordable to almost everyone.
Today, we are witnesses of commercialization of airports, which now look like malls that offer air travel as their side business. Us being up in the air while having everything we have on the ground is what categorizes as air travel standardization. Passengers can bring their laptops and connect their smartphones to the in-flight wifi. But let’s see if we are even to move forward with the development since the obstacles we are facing right now seem overwhelming at the least.
In one of our articles, published at the very early stages of the Coronavirus pandemic, the world was at around 120,000 people infected and around 4,000 deaths worldwide. Fast forward to present day, we are looking at more than 27 million cases worldwide. This is an absolutely astonishing number, going up every single day, and it is a good enough representation of Covid-19’s force.
Not only did the pandemic gut airlines but it did the same to the companies in charge of making the parts and systems for their planes. This comes as a horrible threat to the highly skilled professionals in the aviation industry. According to the Geneva-based Air Transport Action Group, there are 1.2 million people working in civil aerospace worldwide. On top of that, additional 9 million people work in airports, airlines and air navigation service providers. On top of that, additional 9 million people work in airports, airlines and air navigation service providers. This means engineers, factory workers, aircraft designers, architects, technicians, safety engineers – all of them are at risk of becoming unemployed and left stranded.
The bad news: it looks like not many people are eager to go back to sailing the skies. As a result, those working for companies connected to air travel are at risk as the aviation industry suffers the unprecedented downturn. Often we tend to not look at the whole picture, which leaves us blind for what is going on behind the scenes. And, in order to fully grasp the width of the coronavirus impact, we need to take a look at the following chain of events:
Travel bans and restrictions directly led to reducing the demand for air travel. This has led to cancellation of flights, and essentially to a long, forced grounding of aircrafts. So, this meant a huge loss for airlines. A good enough representation is Lufthansa cutting over 22,000 full-time positions in the Lufthansa Group, and 50% of them in Germany. Cutting staff led to canceling orders for new planes. As a result, manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing were forced to significantly reduce the production and cut thousands of jobs. So, after the scandal with the 737 max, Boeing is experiencing yet another huge blow. However, the domino effect doesn’t stop there. Reducing plane production caused cancelling orders for aircraft components, such as wheels, engines, brakes and computer systems. Consequently, companies like Rolls-Royce and GE Aviation were hit hard by these events and are now echoing through the supply chain, leading small businesses at the brink of collapse.
It’s now quite clear that everything comes down to the passengers. All of the above-mentioned companies depend on people flying. So, are people going to fly again?
DFC conducted a survey in the midst of travel bans in April 2020, including 1 million active users, and acquired some interesting insights about the general attitude towards flying in the post-coronavirus era.
Essentially, close to 80% of the survey respondents who had a booked trip in April/May have cancelled their trips.
Additionally, due to travel bans, international flights have taken a huge blow and travelers apparently don’t feel that international flights will be as safe as domestic flights. In the same survey, DFC found that over the next 6 months, 61% of respondents felt comfortable flying again provided the restrictions are lifted.
We should bear in mind that this survey was conducted by the DFC at the very peak of travel restriction.The newest data shows that people are even more cautious now, when countries started opening back up. IATA published results from a public opinion research conducted in June 2020 and, in this survey, 45% of respondents said that they intend to keep on flying within the upcoming few months.
Additionally, this research revealed that airlines don’t have the luxury of knowing what the volumes will be much in advance, as people tend to buy their tickets just a few days prior to the trip. Essentially, there is no sign of a rapid return to travel in the summer months and airlines need to start planning the winter schedules but they have zero visibility as forward bookings plunged.
Needless to say that a large percentage of the world’s population had travel plans that were inevitably impacted by the coronavirus. Basically, the more we talk about it, the clearer it becomes that a lot of different industries will suffer, some might completely break under pressure. And, aviation turns out to be at the epicenter, further impacting the entire aviation ecosystem.
IATA’s forecasts from December 2019 show an increase in capacity growth, resulting in a somewhat more stable airlines’ financial performance in 2020.
They were looking at an improvement in economic growth in 2020, paired with more stability when it comes to fuel prices. This combination was supposed to maintain air travel growth at 4.1%. Additionally, they were forecasting a similar scenario for air cargo with FTK growth of 2% in 2020.
During the initial stage of the pandemic in Europe, on March 5th, IATA presented 2 scenarios to the public. First off, they significantly shifted from the forecasts they broadcasted in 2019. Instead of global growth, they predicted global revenue losses for the passenger business going between $63 billion and $113 billion. In fact, this estimate is already outdated, as it didn’t really take border closures and travel bans into account.
The two scenarios that they presented were called “The Limited Spread” and “The Extensive Spread”.
The Limited Spread scenario contains those markets that have confirmed over 100 infection cases, going through a sharp downturn followed by a V-shaped recovery profile. What this translates to, globally, would be a 11% revenue plunge amounting to $63 billion.
In the Extensive Spread turn of events, a similar methodology is applied. However, the difference is in the markets contained in the scenario, as they were taking all markets with at least 10 confirmed cases into account (as of March 2nd). As a result, they were forecasting a 19% loss in passenger revenues, globally – which amounts to $113 billion.
We’re at the point in time where we can look back at the forecasts and compare them with the actuals. The newest data available suggests that April 2020 had a global drop of more than 94% compared to April 2019. The pandemic has led to inevitable shutdown of both international and domestic aviation. As a result, RPKs, or revenue passenger kilometers, plunged by 94% in April, which is an unprecedented rate that has never been seen in the history of IATA time series dating back to 1990.
Naturally, international aviation was hit much harder than domestic. This was the logical turn of events as countries were closing their borders in order to prevent the international spread of the virus, which led to a faster contraction of international aviation which shrank by a mind-blowing 98.4% year on year, while the shrinkage of domestic aviation stopped at 86.9%. In fact, the first week of April was marked by 75% of countries that are being regularly tracked by IATA, having a full ban of entry. This resulted in placing all international flights to a halt. Additionally, certain countries had a slightly different ban of entry, limited to certain nationalities arriving from a specific country and going to a mandatory quarantine upon arrival.
Obviously, the numbers for April are extremely bad. Still, there’s good news. At least that’s what Alexandre de Junac, IATA’s CEO, stressed on a Media Briefing held on June 3rd. One thing is for sure, in April aviation hit rock bottom. Realistically, there’s not much farther the loss can go than 95%. There was a 30% increase in traffic in May, compared to April. Although a 30% increase may sound like a lot, compared to the 95% plunge, that actually means that there’s a gap of over 90% left to fill in. Still, seeing the trend going upwards is encouraging. However, going back to normal will not come fast. There are companies that will struggle with the recovery period and those that actually won’t make it.
We can’t be certain about what the future holds for the aviation industry. There are guesses, theories and forecasts that could provide a clear picture on where air travel may be heading.
Airports are coming back to life but what once was a place of carefree passing through, now is an eerily-looking space filled with people wearing masks and trying to stay away from each other in order to ensure a satisfactory physical distance. Clearly, this can also mean a certain behavioral change of not only the airport staff but the travelers onboarding the very first flights after the halt as well.
A Delta AirLines Inc. CEO, Ed Bastian, told their employees in a letter that the expectations are to have a rather long recovery period of two to three years.
The aviation boom shaped the planet in its own way. It dispersed families over different continents, made it possible to explore the world and created job opportunities. This relatively long hold looks almost like a reset button for aviation history. A sluggish recovery is the talk of the town now. And, almost 40% of travelers are expected to wait at least 6 months in order to travel again.
In addition to people getting back to the cabins, the global airline industry strongly depends on government aid and bailouts. According to IATA, the industry will need between $150,000 billion and $200,000 billion in order to get through the crisis. And, even then, the consequences won’t completely vanish since the pandemic will most probably lead to a complete revamp of the industry.
One example of what could happen in attempts to save airlines from failing is what Italy is doing with Alitalia. As it turns out, Italy is planning to re-nationalize this airline.
When it comes to the actual way of air travel in the coming days, things are looking unclear. There’s still a lot of debating around some of the measures. For instance, EasyJet went with keeping the middle seat empty to ensure physical distance between the travelers. And, Colorado’s Frontier Airlines actually played with making the customers pay extra in order to keep this seat empty. However, IATA is actually recommending the staff and passengers wearing face masks instead.
There’s a chance that everything will move faster towards contactless, free-of-touch service that could be the sound of the near future.
Realistically, there are 2 ways this crisis could shape the future.
Firstly, we could end up with a structurally revamped aviation industry. Everything would come down to a reduced number of airlines, aircrafts, and demand for production, closed routes and a rather expensive service overall. In fact, the gap between economy and premium could grow bigger. This would lead to a concept of essential travel with business travelers carrying the torch.
Alternatively, it could actually go back to normality. This return to normal would be rather slow and could take up to 3-4 years. The President of Dubai based Emirates stated that he would expect to see the start of this good trend in the summer of 2021. However, in this scenario, he is relying on the discovery of a vaccine against Covid-19.
The experts seem to agree that it will take at least 24 months to start seeing a significant uptick in demand and going back to regular levels of traffic. We personally think that the more viable scenario for the future of air travel in the post-covid world is all about essential travel. That would mean more expensive ticket prices, less routes, less connections, closure of smaller airports, disappearance of certain airlines and the commercialization of airports turning the other way around.
Tourism is usually one of the first industries to really feel the effects of economic adversity. The upcoming months, and even years, will come along with inevitable hiccups. So, let’s take a look at the ways of getting through the crisis and using this time to see what you can do to stay afloat.
There’s no doubt travel agencies are facing a huge downturn due to cancellations and a reduction in demand worldwide. But, this is the perfect time to improve the service. There are numerous ways travel agencies can step up their game. Improving their presence is one of them. So, if you are a travel agency, you should work on your visibility, your website and branding.
As a travel agency, you rely on people’s need to travel. Now that they can’t or don’t want to travel, you can’t turn your back on them. Instead, think about improving your cancellation policy, do your best to stay transparent and as forthcoming as possible. In addition to that, you can always shift your attention to niche travel which doesn’t require planes. The chances are, if customers aren’t disappointed with how you react to the crisis, they will come back to you as soon as they feel like traveling is safe again.
All the business travelers out there have also felt the impacts of coronavirus. Certain businesses haven’t stopped so everyone had to adapt to video-conferences. So, what once was a face-to-face meeting where you needed to dress up nicely and travel hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to see a business partner now turned to sitting at your desk and smiling at the camera. Naturally, some adapted to this new reality easier than others. Now, the question is what a business traveler can do in order to get through the crisis intact?
Experts foresee airlines and hotels improving their loyalty programs in order to attract business travelers. If you are considering taking a business trip, you ought to do some thinking prior to booking a flight. First off, assess the possible risks and make sure to dig into the details of the current situation with the virus at the end point. In fact, you can dig deeper and check out the safety measures in the country where you plan on going. Then, consult the airline website and see what they are doing to ensure that you will stay safe on flight. Finally, make sure that you have the necessary protective equipment with you. At the end of the day, the idea is to keep yourself safe and healthy, so do whatever you need to do in order to achieve that.
The virus didn’t go easy on the holiday makers either. With people not wanting to travel, holiday makers found themselves deep in financial troubles. Still, there are actions that you, as a holiday maker, can take to make this crisis less painful. Work on your social media presence, be vocal about the mesures you are taking in order to make the place clean and safe for the visitors. Think about adding promotions, lowering prices and being truly innovative in order to build trustful, long-term relationships with the visitors. Remember – go the extra mile to make your visitors feel safe and it will pay off in the long run.
Bottom line is, coronavirus places a lot of pressure on the economy. Industries and businesses exist in order to make profit. If they can’t make profit, they won’t be able to grant employment. And, people losing jobs or having a fear of losing their jobs end up buying less, which is how the whole cycle starts again as the world spirals into an economic depression. The effects of coronavirus are visible in a number of industries, and aviation is one of them. The world of tomorrow may or may not be the world that we got so used to live in. All the possible scenarios have grounds for fear. But, there are grounds for hope, too. This pandemic brought a series of system deficiencies into the light of day. And, an effective response to this should be a drastic change. In a way, the current situation in the world gives the world a shot at making things better for the days to come, and industries should take this time to focus on strengthening their action plans and improving the reliability of their services and products.
The future is best described as unpredictable but we should all think about the possible storylines and then see what tomorrow will bring.
Resources
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