Air Travel is Back. Can the Aiports Keep Up?

American, United and Delta are gearing up for a flood of bookings.

Airlines are increasingly confident that they’ve reached a turning point in their financial recovery, with healthy profits in their future.

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines say they are seeing vibrant demand for spring and summer travel. But all three airlines have also said they are taking a measured approach to flight scheduling to avoid the frustrations that have arisen over the past two years as limited glitches cascaded into major disruptions affecting some airline networks for days.

Despite the challenges, the industry remains broadly optimistic, largely because skyrocketing fares do not seem to have curbed the appetite for travel.

Airlines are particularly optimistic about recent improvements in corporate travel, a lucrative part of the business. Companies had been slow to send employees on work trips throughout the pandemic, but that appears to be changing quickly as office reopen and companies lift such restrictions. The carriers said corporate travel had reached 70 to 80 percent of its 2019 level.

According to a poll of travel professionals conducted this month by the Global Business Travel Association, about 86 percent of companies now allow employees to travel domestically for nonessential business, a 13-percentage-point increase from February. The share of businesses that allow nonessential international travel is up to 74 percent, a 26-point jump from February.

International travel, another profit driver for airlines, has shown promising signs of recovery, too. Consumers are traveling abroad in greater numbers, particularly between Europe and the United States, as travel restrictions are lifted and virus infection rates remain low, airlines said.

American said on Thursday that revenue from international travel had reached about 60 percent of prepandemic levels in March. The airline said it was seeing customers book more travel to South America and across the Atlantic, with many willing to buy premium seats, making up somewhat for a lack of international corporate travel. Travel to Asia continues to lag, though, because of health restrictions. United and Delta reported similar trends.

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