Number Crunch

The Air Travel Industry is Preparing for Liftoff

Airlines are going on a buying and hiring spree as customers return to the skies

$30 billion: The estimated cost of the 270 airplanes United Airlines is buying in preparation for the return of air travel, according to Reuters. The order is the largest in the company’s history.

The airlines are betting that the great pandemic staycation is over. Many have begun investing heavily in anticipation of consumers once again taking to the skies. United Airlines announced an order of 200 Boeing 737 MAX jets and 70 Airbus SE A321neos in a deal costing over $30 billion (before discounts). The move is part of the company’s plan to invest in over 500 new planes, many of which will replace their current roster and help increase the overall passenger capacity on domestic flights by 30%. Other airlines have already begun increasing the size of their fleets, with rival Southwest agreeing to buy 100 737 MAX jets from Boeing in March of this year.

While flight numbers haven’t reached pre-pandemic numbers yet, they are on the rise, and the airlines are feeling bullish that a travel boom is impending. Some 2 million passengers passed through TSA checkpoints in late June, compared to around 625,000 in 2020 (and 2.5 million from…