COVID-19 has made airlines really , really sick .
As we headed into fall , the International Air Travel Association was revising its initial estimates , and projecting that airline passenger numbers would drop 55 percent for full-year 2020 .
Airlines — like Seattle-based Alaska — issued quarterly reports that told grim stories : two-thirds fewer planes in the air ; of the planes that were flying — only half full . Alaska reported it was burning through 125 to 175 million dollars each month during the summer , normally a peak travel season . American Airlines was poised to cut dozens of cities from its route networks .
OCTOBER | NOVEMBER 2020 ISSUE NO . 17 9