Airlines got travelers comfortable about flying again once before – but 9/11 and a virus are a lot different
The U.S. airline industry has generally faced two obstacles in enticing more people to fly: fear and fares.
Before the novel coronavirus, few feared flying thanks to the extreme rarity of airline crashes in the U.S., and domestic inflation-adjusted fares that were about the lowest ever. As a result, a record 811 million people flew within the U.S. in 2019.
Today, fares are at rock bottom, but Americans’ fear of flying may be the highest it’s ever been, as the risk of sitting in an enclosed space with several hundred strangers – seemingly the perfect conditions for an infectious disease – is making most people avoid the skies. Passenger traffic plummeted 95% in April from a year earlier and remains significantly lower than normal.
As an aviation historian, I feel a bit of deja vu. Almost...