‘Big Three’ US airlines prepare for very painful fall

Slow business: A file picture showing Delta Air Lines passenger planes parked due to flight reductions made to slow the spread of Covid-19, at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham. — Reuters

NEW YORK: US airlines face a bleak future of depressed traffic and volatile revenue well into 2021, as the global economy transitions from the acute damage of a public health catastrophe into a potentially long recession.

Already a bumpy ride for the “Big Three” carriers, the journey promises to get worse this fall when billions of dollars in government assistance comes to an end.