Some sort of vaccine passport will be required for flights abroad, but not for domestic flights from the United States, according to the CEO of the world’s second largest airline, Delta.
Ed Bastian says in an interview with NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, “I don’t see that happening in the United States, but I think internationally it’s probably going to be a requirement.”
Bastian also tells Holt that Delta will block mid-seats until the end of April and that the company is “not ready to make” a decision on its sale again. But he explained: “We will sell it once people continue to gain confidence in travel, we will have no choice but to sell and give them a chance to sit in the middle seat.”
Some kind of vaccine passport will be required for overseas flights, but not for U.S. domestic flights, Ed Bastian told NBC Nightly News
Bastian tells NBC’s Lester Holt that Delta will block the middle seats until the end of April and that the company is “not ready to make” a decision on its sale again.
On the future of mask warrants, Bastian says, “Once the virus is in a contained form, you will probably still see some customers wearing masks.
“But I hope that once we have confidence as a society, that we have conquered this virus, we can come back to life as we knew it and that it can include being able to fly safely on planes without having to wear masks.”
As for customers who feel nervous about flying again, Bastian explains to Holt that airlines offer the safest mode of transportation.
He says, “There is no safer form of transportation than on our planes [hospital-grade] Hepa filtration systems, application of masks, blocking of medium seats, space on board.
I hope that once we are sure as a society that we have conquered this virus, that we can come back to life as we knew it and that it includes being able to fly safely on planes without having to wear masks.
‘Our team is doing a great job. We are proud of the work they have done and confidence is regained, but I appreciate the anxiety and you see it even with the road warriors as they come out for the first time at airports and in the sky. ‘
As for the future of business travel, he says it will return, but the recovery will lag behind a year or two behind that of leisure travel.
He continues: “As we move forward, we don’t see much business travel right now. We’re going down … probably still around 80%, but as we get to the end of summer to fall, and again as that vaccines are growing as our country begins to achieve herd immunity, hopefully, earlier this summer, companies will return.
Ed Bastian tells NBC Nightly News: “As we move forward, we don’t see much business travel right now. We’re down … probably still around 80%.”
“I have news of all our businesses, big business companies, who are ready to go see their customers and get to know each other and see their teams. So they’ll be back. It may be a year or two behind the trips of leisure.
Across the United States, air travel is recovering faster from the depths of the pandemic, with longer airport security lines and more intense traffic on airlines ’websites.
The Transportation Security Administration examined more than 1.3 million people on both Friday and Sunday, setting a new high since the coronavirus outbreak devastated travel a year ago.
Airlines say they believe the numbers are rising and more people are booking flights for spring and summer.
“Our last three weeks have been the best three weeks since the pandemic hit and each week has been better than the previous ones,” American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said Monday.
Shares of airlines rose widely and shares of the four major U.S. airlines hit prices higher in more than a year.
However, while the number of people passing through airport checkpoints has exceeded one million for four consecutive days and the seven-day rotating average is the highest in the pandemic era, passenger traffic continues to fall more 50% in March compared to the same period in 2019.
Ed Bastian’s interview airs tonight on NBC Nightly News at 6:30 pm ET / 5:30 PM CT.