US Airlines Fly Nearly Empty Flights to Keep 50 Billion Bailout
Worldwide air travel volume is down with more than 8 in 10 flights canceled. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the United States has reported a 96% drop in airline passenger volume and passenger levels are at their lowest since 1954. In spite of this, airlines in the U.S. have only canceled about 60 percent of their flights.
The evidence suggests that the number of people flying is dropping faster than the flights so there are a lot of empty planes…The airlines are left to figure this out for themselves and they are playing catch-up.”
Dan Rutherford, aviation director at the International Council on Clean Transportation

Many of these flights are mandatory, courtesy of the recent government bailout. The airline industry has been promised 50 billion of the 2 trillion dollar stimulus, also known as the CARES Act. Airline carriers are required to preserve air service as it had been on March 1, 2020. These measures are designed to ensure customers in less busy or profitable locales will be able to travel, but the environmental cost does not seem to have been part of the discussion.
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Sources:
- Economic Recession Will Likely Kill More Children Than Total Coronavirus Death Toll
- Flying during coronavirus is nothing like it used to be. Who’s doing it? – Los Angeles Times
- Confusion Among US Airlines as Airplanes Fly Virtually Empty to Get Bailout Funds – The Air Current
- What the $2 Trillion U.S. Stimulus Package Means for Travel Businesses – Skift