Global Aircraft Utilization Changes Due To COVID-19

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Credit: American Airlines

As manufacturers work to distribute short-term parking protocols for aircraft and engines in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, airlines are shuffling their schedules and their fleets. The challenge: react quickly to demand by adjusting capacity downward, while maintaining flexibly to add capacity once demand begins to edge back up. The catch: nobody knows when any of this will happen, let alone what it will look like when it does. 

 

As reliable demand trends begin to emerge, airlines will begin to rebuild their fleets and make longer-term decisions. The number of parked and parked/reserve aircraft will shrink, while the stored figure will rise (as will retirements).