Airlines' Long Covid

Airlines' Long Covid

January 2022
12 min read
Edward Russell and Madhu Unnikrishnan

Issue Overview

Airlines around the world are looking past the pandemic to a future in which Covid-19 may be endemic. But just as with some people who contract the disease, the effects of Covid may last longer than the initial shock. One way that is coming into focus is in staffing. In the U.S. pilot shortages are becoming acute for the regional carriers. Elsewhere, tight labor markets and the "Great Resignation" — or people quitting jobs or unwilling to go back into the workforce — are complicating airlines' and aerospace companies' ability to hire. In response, airlines are trimming schedules and cutting…