Airlines Cut Schedules Amid Efforts to Limit Coronavirus Spread

After a tumultuous week in which international travel was severely curtailed, professional sports shut down and schools closed around the country, the U.S. aviation industry finds itself looking at a radically altered business landscape.

Flights to and from China and the Pacific region were suspended weeks ago as government officials tried to limit the spread of COVID-19, a novel coronavirus that has infected more than 168,000 people worldwide and led to nearly 7,000 deaths since surfacing in December.

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In January, the U.S. government blocked the entry of foreign nationals who had recently traveled to China, and last week, President Trump announced a 30-day ban on foreign travelers entering the country from Europe, as well.

These measures, along with the general public’s growing concern about being exposed to the virus, have had a dramatic impact on both airlines and airports, some of which are making unprecedented moves to adapt to severely decreased demand.

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• Delta Air Lines is cutting capacity – the total number of seats on its flights – by 40 percent over the next few months, CEO Ed Bastian told employees last week. That is the biggest reduction in capacity in the company’s history, surpassing even 9/11.

Among the cuts, Delta will suspend nearly all of its service to continental Europe for at least 30 days. At Pittsburgh International Airport, Delta is only reducing 1 percent of its capacity as of March 15, trimming its flight schedule to Atlanta in April.

• American Airlines announced it will cut 75 percent of its international capacity through May 6 and ground most of its widebody fleet. Domestic capacity will be reduced by 20 percent in April and 30 percent in May.

At PIT, American will end its flights to Phoenix Sky Harbor on June 4, one of several Phoenix flights being cut or scaled back on its national schedule. American is also reducing frequencies to Chicago-O’Hare and Philadelphia. Also in June, American will reduce its daily flights from PIT to New York Kennedy to one from the previous four.

• United was the first major U.S. carrier to announce cuts, saying it would reduce international capacity by 20 percent and domestic capacity by 10 percent in Apri