Southwest cut its revenue forecast, United and JetBlue slash flying to combat coronavirus-related drop in demand.
Globally, airlines could lose up to $113 billion in revenue this year, the most since the financial crisis, if the disease continues to spread, the International Air Transport Association forecast on Thursday.
JetBlue offered flight attendants unpaid leave next month, when it plans to reduce its capacity by 5%, according to a company memo that was seen by CNBC. The New York-based airline is also reducing its hiring and canceling events, according to another memo. Flight attendants who take the voluntary unpaid leave will retain their health benefits and travel privileges.
"We are closely monitoring booking trends to assess whether additional capacity reductions will be required," wrote JetBlue's president Joanna Geraghty. The move followed a similar step by United, which announced on Wednesday it would cut its international flights by 20% next month and domestic flights by 10%. The Chicago-based airline has also pulled its 2020 financial forecasts and postponed its investor day, which was scheduled on Thursday, because coronavirus is preventing it from providing new estimates.
For its part, Southwest warned on Thursday that it logged a "significant decline" in customer demand in the last few days and an increase in cancellations." The low-cost carrier said revenue per available seat mile, a key aviation-industry measure of how much money airlines are generating for each seat it flies a mile, could range from a 2% decline to a 1% increase on the year this quarter, compared with a previous estimate of a 3.5% to 5.5% increase.
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