So Now They're Nice to Us

Major airline stocks were down sharply last week: Delta (20.48%), United (34.44%), American (44.53%)

The coronavirus has resulted in contraction of all travel-related business, in turn triggering abrupt airline flight cancellations and layoffs. San Francisco is particularly affected by cutbacks in United Airlines, the only one of the three major airlines that has a hub in SFO:

The carrier said Wednesday it plans to store some wide-body jets and is offering staff unpaid leaves of absence in April...United will cut domestic capacity by 10% in April from its previous plan and international flying by 20%

Those who are not afraid to buy tickets can seize upon great deals. As for those who keep their reservations, the airlines will bend over backward to accommodate them. Below is an e-mail from Bob, who lives on the Peninsula:

We changed 3 out of our four flight segments with no change fee. The United internet site was going to give us a change fee.

They also upgraded at no cost every United flight to Economy Plus, window, with vacant seats next to us in the middle. Our first flight is N/S to Singapore, 17.25 hours, the 9th longest commercial flight being flown now, so these good seats will make a difference.

“Oh we have a lot of economy plus seats ,so we’d be happy to give you , our good frequent flyer, any seat there at no cost. And we so apologize for your long wait time time on hold, so that’s another reason we are giving you the upgrade."

Stay safe, Bob and Barbara. The good news and bad news is that Singapore has very strict health protocols.