Astounding pics of hundreds of planes lined up on tarmac in US reveal how Covid pandemic has gutted airline industry
EERIE photos of hundreds of grounded planes show the devastating impact of the Covid pandemic on America's airline industry.
Planes can be seen lined up at once-busy airports across and California in the chilling aerial shots.
Jassen Todorov took to the skies above multiple locations in America to shoot incredible scenes showing row after row of multi-million-dollar aircraft.
His pics portray how the lockdown has hit the once-thriving air travel industry, compounded by the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes grounded by the FAA in 2019, following a series of deadly crashes.
Jassen, 46, from San Francisco, flew over the 309th Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Arizona, with its 4,000 stored aircraft.
He also captured unsettling pics above Southern California Logistics airport, as well as San Bernardino International and Mojave airports in , plus Pinal county Airpark, Arizona.
Last year saw the six biggest US airlines lose $34billion, and Southwest suffered its first full-year loss since Richard Nixon was president and gasoline sold for 36 cents a gallon.
2020 was a disaster for airlines, worse than 9/11 or the global financial crisis - some very small carriers didn’t survive it - and the start of 2021 is already grim for the struggling airline industry, reports Associated Press.
With travel likely to remain weak for several more months, airlines are continuing to slash costs and encourage workers to leave.
Federal aid has averted more furloughs, at least through March.
Airlines short on revenue have amassed tens of billions of dollars from private lenders and taxpayer-funded relief to help them get through the pandemic.
Wall Street analysts expect the airlines will lose money again this year, although not as much, according to data compiled by FactSet.
On February 12, 2021, the said it was not planning to make passengers take Covid tests before domestic airline flights.
This was after the proposed new rules raised serious concerns among America's airlines, unions and some lawmakers.
Health bosses at the CDC had said last month the agency was “actively looking” at expanding mandatory coronavirus testing to domestic flights.
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But this was canned after chief executives of major airlines, including American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, met virtually with White House Covid response coordinator Jeff Zients.
Southwest Airlines warned such a requirement could put jobs at risk and a major aviation union said it could lead to airline bankruptcies.
The CDC currently discourages all nonessential air travel to stop the spread of the bug, which has so far killed about 500,000 people in the US.
