new york
CNN
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The recent crash of two planes caused concerns between flyers, prompting some to pull back plans for air travel, according to two of the airlines that collided with.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said Tuesday morning that a fatal crash in American Airlines flights in January approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and that Delta flights were upside down when landing in Toronto last month, but this year the trip pullbacks are at least partially behind.
“It caused a lot of shock among consumers,” he told the JPMorgan Chase Investors conference. Bastian did not say how late ticket sales were. On Monday, the company revised its quarterly expected revenue growth rate by half in regulatory filings.
Bastian said the crash has been part of the worst aviation accident in the last 25 years, and as a result, “it will travel from a recent generation of people who have not realised that these things could happen.”
That's not the only thing that reduces demand. Delta said uncertainty about the economy and lower consumer confidence are also painful. But Bastian said the safety crashes and worries are “causal facts” in the decline in travel reported by various US airlines.
“We saw pretty immediate food stalls on both corporate travel and booking,” he said. “As safety issues have come in, consumer confidence and the certainty of air travel has begun to fade a little.”
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom also said the crash was a major factor in reducing quarterly revenue forecasts. However, he said that now the airline's focus is “only caring for the victims' families.”
Americans also cut their quarterly revenue outlook on Tuesday. This is not a guidance from a previous 3% to 5% increase, he says he expects little change in revenues from a year ago. ISOM also reflected the remarks of Bastian and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, saying that economic uncertainty in the public and business is a major factor digging into the decline in its prospects.
“Economic uncertainty is a big deal,” he said. Before that, he added that crashes are also a major part of the decline in guidance.
The two crashes are not the only incidents that raise concerns about air safety. A southwest flight that had landed at Chicago Midway Airport last month had to take off quickly to avoid crashing into a private jet that had started improperly across the runway.
The cause of the two crashes has not been determined yet. The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to submit a preliminary report on the crash in Washington later Tuesday. Preliminary analysis of flight data and voice recorders aboard the US Black Hawk helicopter that struck a passenger jet reveals that the helicopter's altimeter may be inaccurate, indicating that the helicopter pilot has not heard a call from the control tower.
The statements made by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's government's efficiency efforts to cut costs have made the Air Force a subject of intense political debate in ways that were not a previous plane crash.
In a statement the day after the crash in Washington, Trump denounced efforts to improve diversity of air traffic control staff despite no evidence that air traffic control caused jet-army helicopter collisions and that diversity efforts reduced the quality of the controller's work.
Government Efficiency Director Elon Musk said current air traffic control technology is on the crisis that “catastrophic obstacles, putting air traveller safety at serious risk,” suggesting that his company SpaceX has the technology that needs to replace its current $2 billion contract. The FAA only said it is weighing options for upgrading communications technology.
But even though everyone agrees that there is a shortage of air traffic controllers, some criticize Doge's efforts to reduce FAA staffing and costs. According to a report in The New York Times, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy clashed with Musk over efforts to reduce air traffic control staffing by younger members of the Doge team. CNN has not confirmed the replacement at the closed door meeting.
Musk denied efforts to fire the controllers to The Times, but CNN confirmed that all controllers received an email offering the opportunity to quit until September as part of their cost-cutting efforts. However, air traffic controllers are still ordered to detail the results in the final week of work or face completion.
According to Bastian, all of these debates thriving with passenger tensions over the flight.
“Unfortunately, as we all know, some aspects of crash fall have been politicized and the issue has not helped in terms of restoring consumer confidence in the mind,” he said.
