#hardtalklive

How can we build back better European aviation after COVID-19 – and what will our industry look like in five years? The environment, changing markets, new consumer behaviours and expectations – all will be explored in a series of live 1-2-1 interviews with industry leaders. In our second EUROCONTROL Aviation Hardtalk Live, we explore these questions and more with Willie Walsh, who as founding CEO of the International Airlines Group (IAG), successfully drove over the last decade the group’s evolution to today comprise Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, LEVEL and Vueling. Willie will be interviewed by Andrew Charlton, journalist and MD of Aviation Advocacy. The sessions includes a short update on European markets and performance from Eamonn Brennan, Director General of EUROCONTROL.

Business travel may lag for 12 to 18 months, Bastian said. Companies seem to be waiting on medical advances related to Covid-19 — such as vaccines — that will keep their employees safer. Bastian said he does not believe Delta's volume of business traffic will "ever get back entirely to where we were in 2019." He expects those who travel for work often to take fewer trips in the future, and inefficiencies, such as flights to Europe for brief meetings, may be replaced by video calls, which have become a much bigger part of work culture as offices have shut down during the pandemic.

Delta expects travel that is focused on relationship building, such as interacting with customers and new contacts and attending conventions, will eventually return.

 Whether to book passengers in middle seats on airplanes has become a battle line among major commercial carriers in recent weeks. Delta has been blocking middle seats since April, claiming the move creates safer flights thanks to greater social distancing. Delta has extended that policy through at least the end of September.

In late June, United Airlines and American Airlines resumed booking middle seats, drawing criticism from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley. In response, United chief communications officer Josh Earnest said blocking middle seats is nothing more than "a PR strategy" that does not actually keep passengers and flight crews safer from the spread of Covid-19. Delta, in turn, reiterated its policy.

Bastian on Tuesday said Delta's middle-seat policy has received praise from customers.

"When we surveyed customers today about the reasons you're purchasing a ticket on Delta, the space on board the plane, the blocked middle seats, has gone to the number one reason why customers are choosing Delta," Bastian said. "They see it consistent with our brand. Everyone appreciates it's not going to last forever, but in the face of a health crisis, that space really matters, and customers are telling us that."

Delta does not intend to raise fares to compensate for the lack of bookings in middle seats, according to Bastian. Although, the CEO did say that "being the most disciplined in terms of the supply of capacity we're offering" is helping Delta have "a better price on board the overall cabin. So, indirectly that is coming through in price." Essentially, fewer seats overall because of reduced capacity equals higher ticket prices.

Going forward, the carrier will continue to consider "consumer confidence" as it revisits potential extensions of the middle-seat policy. Delta may begin filling middle seats at the end of this year or early in 2021.

"Right now, I don't see a push to do that," Bastian said. "Customers aren't pushing us to do it, and I'd rather add more flights back and more seats into the market in a safe way than to maximize the number of people you can put on an individual airplane." SEE VIDEOS HERE.......

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