Airlines flying blind into summer capacity sweepstake
CHANGE SUITE
FEBRUARY 2, 2021 8:55 AM UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
By Laurence Frost, Sarah Young
5 MIN READ
PARIS (Reuters) - European airlines buffeted by successive lockdowns have little idea what kind of summer to expect. But they must place their bets anyway.
Time is short to commit to flight schedules for the main holiday season, whose profits usually tide the industry through the winter, but whose outlook has never been so uncertain.
Cash-strapped carriers must decide when to trigger the costly process of returning parked planes and furloughed staff, or even rehiring. Getting it wrong means losing more money on half-empty flights or – if demand is underestimated – handing badly needed business to rivals.
Reporting by Laurence Frost in Paris and Sarah Young in London. Additional reporting by Conor Humphries in Dublin. Editing by Mark Potter
