The airline industry faces a long, arduous path to recovery in the wake of the unprecedented disruption to passenger travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In early 2020, the COVID-19 virus quickly spread around the globe, devastating demand for air transportation and compelling governments to mandate travel restrictions. As airlines ramped down their business, most of them had no more than two or three months of liquidity, according to the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), but have since secured loans, bailouts and other funding options, while numerous international carriers have filed for bankruptcy protection.

The crisis, which came suddenly, is global in nature with uncertain duration and consequently the recovery will likely be painfully slow, even with the relatively expeditious regulatory approval of several vaccines.

Read more here for A&M's thoughts on how the airline industry is responding to the pandemic in our article published in the AIRA Journal.