JetBlue Airways Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes expects the U.S. to reopen to foreign travelers before the Nov. 25 Thanksgiving holiday, he said Tuesday at an International Air Transport Association media briefing.
- Significant number of customers have already made bookings so tens of thousands would have to cancel if the U.S. does not open by then, Hayes says
- Overall demand is correlated to case counts and people who didn’t get a chance to travel last summer will begin booking, he says
- In same briefing, IATA chief Willie Walsh says there’s sustained demand for travel, not just pent-up demand after restrictions are lifted
- On what airlines have learned for next pandemic, Walsh says the industry was “probably too sympathetic” to governments
- He sees resistance to certain measures if there were to be another pandemic
