Alaska Airlines and JetBlue Airways both shared a bit of news this week that may offer a glimmer of hope to the beleaguered U.S. air transport industry.
The carriers at opposite ends of the country both said customer demand hit rock bottom in mid-April, and both received an almost identical amount of $992 million in federal financial help to meet their payrolls until the end of September.
But then executives for the two mid-sized airlines suggested they're now seeing or expecting slightly more passengers and maybe higher revenues in the months ahead as different states start to relax their respective stay at home orders and travel restrictions and people start to feel safe flying again.
"We continue to see passengers carried every day on our network grow a little bit by little bit day in and day out," Andrew Harrison, Alaska Airlines executive vice president and COO, told analysts on an investor call this week. "But it won't be until there's a material change in the stay home orders that we expect to see any material shift in that."
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport confirms there's been a tickle of an uptick over the past week.
"There’s been a bit of a jump in the last week for travelers," spokesman Perry Cooper said, noting that passenger volumes had been off 95% compared to a year ago, but dipped up and were down only 91% last week.
Alaska rival JetBlue Airways of New York City shared similar sentiments on its own investor call, saying it believes a bottom in passenger demand was reached in mid-April.
"While the overall number of bookings remained extremely limited during the second quarter, we expect to see small increases in demand as various geographies in our network begin a phased reopening," JetBlue President and Chief Operating Officer Joanna Geraghty said.
Geraghty said much uncertainty remains around the timing and the shape of the economic and air travel industry's recovery, so JetBlue's focus – like Alaska's – has been on cutting expenses and reducing flights, all while remaining flexible.
"We do expect a phased recovery and adapting to that changing environment. From a planning perspective, we’re assuming an L-shaped curve, which has recovery beginning in earnest out into Q3 and Q4," Geraghty said. "I think at the end of the day, recovery is going to be dependent on customers being confident, returning to flying and crew members feeling safe to work."
JetBlue said it's staff are monitoring all leading economic indicators and measuring customer sentiment in terms of what people are going to need to get comfortable flying again, such as providing wipes.
"And when we see those green shoots, we want to be in a position to take care of them," she added.
Geraghty warned that despite planning for third and fourth quarter passenger demand coming back, uncertainty remains. "It's up in the air for every carrier right now," she said.
The airlines are fogging and disinfecting jets, wiping down surfaces and requiring passengers and staff to wear masks and practice social distancing at all times, and all airlines have embarked on public information campaigns to help the public understand measures being taken.
See how the SeaTac-based airline is testing how its underused passenger jets will instead carry extra freight and cargo to meet demand, using luggage storage bins, seats and closets inside the cabin.