Analysis: Desperate airlines hope vaccine mandates will lure back passengers

Desperate airlines hope vaccine mandates will lure back passengers The one thing we do know for certain is that the airline industry as we know it is changing forever. Jay Ratliff, Opinion Contributor TheHill

We have reached a fascinating pivot-point for the airline industry as airlines struggle to generate profits as the pandemic continues. The latest development has most major airlines ordering their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to keep their jobs.

The backdrop to this decision was the expected drop in future travelers brought on by an increasing concern over the delta variant. The daily numbers of passengers screened by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shows that only 60 percent to 70 percent of the traveling public has returned to the skies. The rate of future reservations is dropping, and the number of future reservations being cancelled is escalating, and that is sending ripples of concern through the airline industry. ...

We have reached a fascinating pivot-point for the airline industry as airlines struggle to generate profits as the pandemic continues. The latest development has most major airlines ordering their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to keep their jobs. ...

... why have airlines changed their position on vaccine mandates? As always, it comes down to revenue and a desperate hope that the next step will bring back more passengers. Airlines are losing money. They can increase the leisure fares only so much; even still, it won’t fill the void left by the absence of corporate travelers. The hope is that if a vaccine travel mandate is put into place for domestic travel, the number of people headed for the airports will increase. ...