airline passengers? our customers will enjoy flights more than ever with expanded entertainment and connectivity options. the number of aircraft with in-flight entertainment screens worldwide will continue to increase while bring your own e vice options will cover all u.s. commercial aircraft this decade each new screen by delta weighs two pounds less than the pred setter saving millions of gallons of fuel despite more screen size for passengers. new technologies for our key airline suppliers will make future seatback screens as thin and light as seatback hard plastic. seating advancements have enabled passengers two to three inches more leg room than historic seats in existing space as i've indicated in my written testimony. u.s. airline ticket prices should continue to track lower than the rate of inflation as airlines now burn 53.7% less fuel per passenger than the 1990s. this helps benefit our passengers, our airlines, and our world with a carbon emission reduction averaging 2.3% less each and every

airline passenger experience association and spirit airlines. the subcommittee will come to order. i would ask unanimous consent ththe chair be last consent they authorized the recess during today's m hearing and without objection sosoperm ordered. ay'si ask consent that they aret on the subcommittee be committedjectio to sit with theo subcommittee in today's hearing and asked questions, withoutgooi objection so ordered. good morning, want to thank the witnesses offacco the subcommite today for discussion on the airn travel experience. accordingtist to the u.s. borouh of transportation desist except the u.s. airlines carried 925.5 million passengers in the u.s.oe and abroad. the highest total since 2003. the federal aviation aviation current aerospace forecast will increase roughly 2% per year over the next 20 years. where i'm from, the number of complaints will grow from 24 million in 2018 up to 55.6ie million bys 2015. by demand creates new opportunities through the nation's aviation network, inv n long-standing challenges o int human growtherested throughoute last few years, air

and legacy f airlines? >> we have found that when we 5% talk about the legacy airlines, many of their flights up to 50% of departures on any given day are in fact operated their subservice they are outsourced to regional carriers so we have written about this and advocated about this at length over the years. there are two sets of rules, safety issues that in measure have been addressed after the crash in sere are buft there's also customer service issues. there are different stastandars to the bottom line ticket on b that american deltat you are flying on an aircraft is and operated by united american and so from the faa sa, perspective there could be different standards in terms of safety, maintenance, pilot serv training and customer service standard there could be differences. >> is there legislation needed?y w>> absolutely we've advocated there needs to be tighter control operating on behalf co ofly t major carriers and we find repeatedly that many passengers have no idea they bought a ticket on airlin

can world airlines survive coronavirus almost all flights have been grounded thousands of aircraft and multiple governments are now promising bailouts to keep the industry in the skies that will that be enough this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program on peace adobe will leaders are being forced to take drastic emergency measures to confront the worsening coronavirus crisis that meant to keep people alive but they are killing the global economy with lockdowns in place around the world millions of people are being laid off tourism industries are already critical consumer spending has crashed so to stock markets and oil prices billions of dollars worth of perishable products have also been destroyed but few industries have been hit as hard as the aviation world the international air transport association i oughta says the industry stands to lose more than $250000000000.00 in revenue this year and that's assuming things recover in 3 months singapore emirates and turkish airlines are just a few of the big names to stop almost all the operations an estimated 8 and a half 1000 c

and spirit airlines. the subcommittee will come to order. i would ask unanimous consent ththe chair bethe chair be autho declare recess during today's hearing without objection, so ordered. i also ask nms can send members not on the subcommittee be permitted to sit with subcommittee at today's hearing and ask questions without objection, so ordered. good morning and i want to thank the witnesses for joining the subcommittee today for the discussion on the air travel experience. according to the u.s. the bureau of transportation statistics in 2018 u.s. airlines. 925 million passengers to destinations in the u.s. and abroad, the highest total is 2003. the federal aviation or the faa current forecast predicts it will increase roughly 2% per year over the next 20 years and the number of passenger is expected to grow from 24 million to 56 million by 2050. so while increased passenger demand for its new economic opportunities and enhances the nation's aviation network, long-standing challenges can enter. over t

airline.s stranded on european holiday, for those going to the airport today to fly, what is the advice? the advice is don't go to the airport, they will not be any flybe services. fortu nately, be any flybe services. fortunately, in the round, there are fewer people abroad because flybe is not a big operator outside the uk and i think other airlines are stepping and fill the gap in some but not all. when it comes to the ritz, do you think other companies like ryanair and easyj et companies like ryanair and easyjet will snap up some of the ritz? you say many were unprofitable but they were extremely popular out of southhampton, for example. the larger airlines like ryanair and easyjet, they had bigger aircraft which cannot make it work but if they had less plays around ina work but if they had less plays around in a smaller capacity brackets. someplace was stepping and a few look like they are well advanced with some plans but southhampton airport for viewers who do not know, it is important c

and also to keep the airlines running because don't forget this is not just the airline industry this is the entire travel and tourism industry so 5 percent of global trade relies on the aviation industry and if there's a break in any shape or form in the aviation industry it thanks the supply chain across the board travel tourism hospitality exception so yes the governments need to step in i know it goes against investing put it plain money into private enterprise you know they have to do their own thing they have to work you know their own way however in the current situation there is definitely one of the government takes and we've also seen it in the safe as you know the u.s. carries about theosophy or financial assistance the white house has a $50000000000.00 aid package that's being put into the economy in the u.k. we've seen $330000000000.00 pounds worth of money expect to be pumped into the economy some of that will obviously you know go to tea sectors like java tourism which aviation is a key component of deshawn let's just throw this forward i mean when the dust has settled

and their own aviation sectors such because every airline needs some kind of support. from about a dozen countries around the world and we're going to need series a lot more countries in the coming weeks in order to write about bankruptcies and there's some confidence that in the industry that that will happen and that and that their lives will be there when this crisis is over to carry on as injuries to drive to a global economy once again annele in london regionally and around the world is this all of a piece or i mean traditionally regionally certain regions do subsidize their airlines and certain airlines you know their accounts their books are maybe open to question at some points during the year because they do run as a loss anyway. yeah i mean this is this is a particularly difficult time for the airline industry this is the certainly the northern hemisphere summer rear looking at a time when demand for air travel will be beginning to go up we're getting very close to the easter break. and you know traditionally and i was in europe particularly low cost carriers

did the airline change your flight ok?t, we heard nothing from expedia who we booked through or with egypt air who we are flying with. we had to go through our concierge and we advised to go through the embassy but the british embassy was not opening their doors despite there being a queue of us and other nationals. they gave us the home office number, we telephoned those but they didn't respond. our insurance wasn't answering and expedia was not answering either so eventually we had to go straight to the airport to book an earlier flight. clearly you have done that. how much did it cost? an additional £630 each to switch to get earlier flights. simon, there are lots of people who are stuck somewhere and many people have lost a lot of money. what is your advice? it is such an unusual situation that at this stage it's a question of fly first, ask questions later. there are all kinds of experiences of people where the passenger rights rules should take effect but the airlines are simply ignoring them. they have very little c

spending the cash on stock buybacks to make shareholders richer airlines are begging for bailouts. well the world's biggest economy and its 60000000 citizens are under lockdown it's really became the 1st european nation to introduce drastic measures to control the spread of the corona virus outside of china italy has recorded the most deaths from the virus schools have been closed shops have been shuttered businesses are winding down non-essential work and transport hubs of ground to a halt. well the italian government has pledged $28000000000.00 to ease the burden of the pandemic that includes helping companies homeowners with their mortgage payments and people losing their jobs well it's only really needs all the support it can get right now it's never really recovered from europe's debt crisis its debt stands close to 135 percent of g.d.p. and growth since the introduction of the euro almost 20 years ago has barely grown well such is the dire state of its economy recession is looming and they have been warnings that it may need to seek a bailout from the euro zone and even the i

, your insurance company, or your airline, your insurance company, or even your airline, your insuranceembassy. you have to make decisions now, there is no time to lose. spend what you need to, get family and friends to pay for your ticket just you need to, get family and friends to pay for your ticketjust get yourself out and then ask russians later. nikki was referring to the fa ct later. nikki was referring to the fact that —— questions. that she couldn't get through to her own embassy. is that common? the normal workload of an embassy is maybe a handful of people everywhere, lost passports, maybe getting into trouble with the law, a sickness case. trouble with the law, a sickness case. there simply are not cut out for the situation of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of nationals all being in the same position of having to leave their country at top speed. i'm not really surprised this is happening. the systems we have in place simply never were designed for the worst emergency that has ever happened to travel. for the moment, simon, thank you very much indeed. still to co

trump: are you the head united airlines are american airlines? >> if you are a passenger, we have been told wash your hands. pres. trump: dr. brooks. you can maybe say something. >> we are always saying the common sense of washing your hands and not touching your face and ensuring if you have touched anything, go and wash your hands again, 20 seconds with soap and hand sanitizer also works, but i would also reassure the three levels of cleaning procedures -- because i think that will be reassuring to the american public. pres. trump: and i have not touched my face in weeks. [laughter] in weeks. i miss it. >> would you address some of the concerns that travelers that booked their flights and might be coming on a trip and might have to make rearrangements? pres. trump: what would you say about that? >> we put out recently a flexibility to book their travel in advance and if they want to change that later, change either way, we are figuring out ways to make sure there is flexibility. pres. trump: oscar, how would you handle that? this is a time unpr

would you be advocating on behalf of each airline or will airlines turn against each other? will there be consolidation? will there be efforts to take market share in this difficult environment? alexandre: the major priority now is to advocate in favor of the industry. facing an exceptionally difficult situation that are among the worst we have had in the last 20 years. we need an exceptional set of regulatoryinancial, and cost-reduction measures, to help us. we could see a consolidation due to the impact on the airlines, but the second step, we are working on the first one, how to survive. think airlines in places like united states and in europe will be at a disadvantage to airlines and other parts of the world? andmight look at the gulf other parts of the world where governments will support the carriers, for governments will inject money, for governments make it crystal clear to everyone that there airlines will keep flying. will you be put at a disadvantage to those carriers? alexandre: i don't think so. governments ony this planet that has no interest in its airlines.

international travelers and it could cost the airline industry billions of dollars multiple airlines had already cancelled flights to china including american delta united and british airways but as a virus appeared in more countries airlines extended waivers to regions experiencing the worst outbreaks according to the international air transport association this is the 1st decline global air travel has seen since 2009 during the big financial crisis airlines could be losing up to $113000000000.00 in revenue if the coronavirus continues amid travel fears british airline fly be collapsed leaving passengers stranded all fly b. flights are canceled please do not go to the airport as your fly be flight will not be operating customers should find their own way home by making alternative travel arrangements via other airlines rail or coach operators and hong kong's cafe pacific airways announced its closing its vancouver cabin crew base cutting 147 crew members. aviation analyst jamie fancher saying many big airlines are prepared for a worst case scenarios while smaller airlines could suff

but our airlines are going to play a key role, mr. president, in preventing the trespread of s disease. even earlier today, at your direction, we met with leaders of our nursing home industry to talk about the measures, increased measures to prevent the spread of infectious disease. we've sent new guidance out to nursing homes. we'll be announcing later today new priority of inspections for infectious diseases. we'll be detailing that, we explained it to the industry today. also on the issue of testing, mr. president, you've made that a priority. we'll have over a million tests in the field today. i spoke to several governors this morning that were grateful for the fact that the changes you made this weekend through the fda now make it possible for state health clinics as well as universities around the country to be able to conduct coronavirus tests but we'll also be meeting this afternoon with leaders of our commercial laboratories to make a coronavirus test more rapidly, more widely available for doctors' offices and medical clinic

other airlines concerned. lots of them are having to ground aircraft.cel bookings. the air transport association said it wanted to give airlines scope to cancel flight without using their airport take—off and landing slots. no region has said it cannot stand by its profits guidance that it issued in february and the reason for that is the impact of coronavirus on the kings and norwegian has been running at a loss for three years and it looks uncertain now. thank you. we will have more on that story later. we will find out about passenger numbers in recent months. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. britain will miss its goal of net zero carbon by 2050 unless it finds a way to finance nuclear power stations. that's according to a confidential letter written to the chancellor by the nuclear industry — which has been seen by the bbc. britain's nuclear plants provide about 20% of uk electricity. all but one will be retired by the end of the decade. lego plans to open 150 branded shops around the world in 2020, having opened the s

task we take to keep our airline safe. we ask if there is anything we can do to ensure our plans are as safe as possible. anything that can project stability, calm with regards to behavior. it is a fun way of expressing, be careful for the next few weeks. thank you. >> you are a heart transplant survivor, one of the great executives of the world, and you look very good to me. you do not recommend it. that is great, thank you. again the american people deserve to know the threat of contracting the coronavirus remains low according to our experts. at your direction we will continue to bring the full resources of the federal government and enlist the full resources of american industry to keep the american people safe . our airlines are exceptional partners with us not only the executives but the cruise who who take goodews care of the passengers, and cleaning the planes and working with us on the screening process. we will continue to lean into this effort, and we will continue to do so until we find our way through. that, w

with other airlines.f it was just with flybe, all he or she can do is book with another airline and try to get the money back. if they booked through a travel agent, the first thing to do is to travel mystic may contact the travel agent and they will hopefully be able to handle all of that and rebook them. if they booked direct, it is a different story, so it is going to be how did they booked, did they book with a credit card, if so, they need to contact their credit card company, hopefully get their money back. if it is through a debit card, they should hopefully be able to get it back under the chargeback scheme where if you have not had your goods, you can hopefully get it back. but that is really, unless they booked the chav agents, —— travel agent, all they can do is find another airline, find another way to do it and try to find another way. gary, vicky has a question, vicky from kidderminster. she asks, will the flights that flybe ran now be run by other airline companies and we were just in belfa

anna: there's $50 billion in this for carrier airlines and $8 million for cargo airlines. the big question we were looking at, what part of that is going to be loaned, and what part is going to be grants? we don't have the legislative text yet. we expect to have that soon. but it looks like if airlines want grants, they are going to have to agree to much stricter restrictions on the executive structure, and also allowing the government to have some equity in the company's. it looks like they will have the option between those two, but we will wait to see the final answer on that. just in terms of what happens next, is the house signing off on this? there were some concerns that may be there weren't enough representatives in the house to get this done. can we see a handshake deal in both the upper and lower house to get this cleared through? anna: that's an excellent question, and one we will be asking for the rest of the day. in order to get this through quickly, you would have to have not a single-member of the u.s. congress object, so that means all members who can't agr

president trump: ask the head of the airlines. reporter: if you're a passenger, you get on that plane, we've been told, wash our hands. >> we are always saying the common sense of washing your hands and not touching your face and if you touched anything, go and wash your hands again, 20 seconds with soap and hand sanitizer, but i was reassured to hear about the three levels of cleaning procedures because that will be assuring. -- reassuring to the american public. president trump: and i haven't touched my face in weeks. i miss it. reporter: would you do anything to address some of the concerns of maybe travelers who booked their flights and they might be coming up on a trip and they might have to make rearrangements? president trump: what would you say about that? >> we put out a flexibility to book their travel in advance and if they want to change that later, change either way, we are figuring out ways to make sure there is flexibility. reporter: how would we handle that? we have a lot of people who have booked. >> this is a tim

delta airlines, american airlines are the two most recent american carriers to cut flights and abandoningecast for 2020 , this as the coronavirus outbreak spreads. joining us for an industry outlook is jonathan root. he has covered the airline sector for over a decade. friday, just a few days ago, downgraded the industry outlook to a negative from a stable. why? of course, the virus and the uncertainty. u.s. and global airlines, we have had a stable outlook for some time. this event is too great to maintain that position. there's a lot of concern at this time. the key factor is the uncertainty of the duration of this is with us and the effect on demand and cash flow. taylor: the last time you downgraded this sector -- i shouldn't say downgrade, revised the outlook -- was in november 2018. what are the parallels from that time to now? jonathan: i'm sorry, 2008 or 18? taylor: 18 come the last time you revise the sector was 18. apologize, that was some that information. it was actually 2008. it was around the financial crisis. the industry has had a solid front coming out of the financial cr

as an airline was in difficulty but there are large airlines which are in difficulty as well given the tight margins that the airline industry is running on and given the nature of the the unpredictable nature of this crisis do you think we will see some of the larger carriers fail and is it time for the airline industry to consider a fundamental shift in its business model going forward. are this is never a matter of the wrong business model and even profits won't sustain you through this kind of downturn this is all about cash flow managing cash flow maintaining good credit relationships with banks leasing companies other forms of finance and the airlines will need the support. of those capital providers to have confidence that the business will get through this downturn and i'm no doubt that they will bounce back and be you know will grow stronger over the longer term but it is really a matter of financing and also government policies can help in some regard so we need to get through this together it needs good cooperation amongst the different players and this is not confined to of

like the airlines have stepped up. very much so. thank you. >> jetblue, thank you very much for having us. a lot has been said, we are doing -- taking many of the same measures as everyone else to keep our customers and our crew members safe and secure. thank you for putting the vice president in charge of these efforts. the federal government has tremendous flexibility when it comes together for a common goal. i would like to give a quick shout out to the people in the federal government and the people that work with us who are really in the frontlines of this and the heroic efforts they are making every day to keep us safe and secure. president trump: thank you very much. >> i take a different angle. a lot has been said. the safety and hept of our customers and employees are at the top. i think as i look through this from a personal i'm a heart transplant survivor. if you think of the poster child for the individual that could be affected by this, i am it. i have immune system concerns. that's the task we take at united about keep

airlines don't actually head and neither do chinese and indian airlines so they are going to be able to benefit about on the lower oil prices average or thank you so much for joining us as always. and while many of us are scrambling to get our hands on basic goods like hand sanitizer clorox 'd wipes toilet paper and other essentials the wealthiest one percent are taking a different approach if you didn't already know about this well there is a booming $4.00 trillion dollar wellness market this includes an urgency go bag with a james bond like gadgets with a price tag of nearly $5000.00 this bag includes items you made an emergency and then some you may not like night vision goggles at a luxury price tag those who still have the choice of purchasing other goods could afford a necklace that serves as a personal air purifier worth about $149.00 or the sanitized sleeper safe haven for about $100.00 made from packman micro real or micro. microbial fabric that kills nearly 100 percent of bacteria and viruses but no need to go searching for these gadgets now because most of them are either

today german airline lufthansa told reuters they're taking action and other airlines will take actionso airlines are focused not only that side of the atlantic but this side as well. back to you. >>> let's get an update with sue herera at hg. >> good morning, carl. good morning, everybody. here's what's happening at this hour the italian government is actively considering closing all schools across the country to fight the spread of the coronavirus. this would expand closures in effect in northern italy schools would stay closed at least until the middle of the month. they're also looking at banning public events and closing cinemas and theaters nationwide. >>> olympic organizers planning to scale back events around the olympic torch relay because of the coronavirus outbreak attendance at some events would be limited the event is scheduled to arrive in northeastern japan march 20th the officials, however, say the games will start as planned in july >>> heavy rains causing deadly mudslides in southeastern brazil at least 16 people have died, dozens more missing. state authorities say m

talk as to what it looks like for the bosses of these airlines. grapple with this crisis because at this point, there is no end in sight. absolutely not. there is a point where effectively they stop flying. ryanair have offered their aircraft were european government. we need to repatriate people. they are down to 98% of their whole capacity. airlines or following a different direction. there is no short—term solution to this. these are expensive assets. the cash is draining out of these businesses. the iata report suggests most airlines have a maximum two months of cash reserves and let's just not in the united kingdom. that is the medium. there are some who are well reached and others were literally seeing the last pound notes disappearing out of the offices. we have to leave it there, but thank you. tuesday was a wild day on the world's stock markets. in the us, the dow jones industrial average rose 11.4% — its biggest daily gain since 1933. the s&p 500 and london's ftse 100 enjoyed their best days since the 2008 financial crisis, rising more t

birmingham airport say they are in talks with other airlines to try to ta ke talks with other airlinese sure the connectivity can continue. forsome airports, flybe isa continue. forsome airports, flybe is a huge part of their business so not only questions for passengers and staff, but also big questions about the future of the airports themselves, those that rely on passenger flybe brings in. so lots of questions. we are getting some details from the firm but still a confused picture for many of the people coming here this morning. we will have more from birmingham throughout the morning. i know you will keep us updated, thank you so much. good morning, everybody. it is a chilly start if you are just stepping out, across the board. some have some frost this morning, particularly in the northern half of the country where there is also dense fog, especially in north—east england. in the northern half, we are looking at a mostly dry day with are looking at a mostly dry day with a few showers, whereas in the south, it's still going to be chilly and we have some rain and blustery wind, cou

you look at some of the airlines and how they think about that, the concept of financing airlines inernment. [inaudible] we happen to dilute the equity significantly. then you have to look at it on a fully diluted basis, would you buy some of these equities going forward and they are starting to look pretty attractive. it's a hard industry today because you don't know what the recoveries going to look like so listen, i think in today's environment, you take small pieces of the airline, may be but that is so profound or potentially so profound that i'd rather go into the other places that you know. >> let me turn to interest rates. you did see some of the three month bill actually showed negative rates, we are seeing some negative rates in the u.s. as low as they are, there's a lot of people who would say we don't want negative rates the way europe is, but we've got them in some corners, right. >> we have them where its cash , the demand for cash, your seeing bills, it's an embodiment of people who just want to give something that is cash or cash like. listen, we don't want negative i

airlines may be encouraged to provide feedback through that are public comment. >> the airlines are sayinghey're not listening enough. >> they're saying airlines say it is honorest. is it also an issue of privacy, i wonder how do you get this information requested. >> there are questions on behalf of the lawyers asking these airlines, wait a minute, we understand this is a public health crisis right now. there is no sunset clause on when the government is going to stop asking us to collect this information so there are some fears from the lawyers asking these airlines that countries who have passengers on u.s. carriers and u.s. airlines are collecting these information may in fact get into illegal combat l here. >> the trump administration has not told these airlines they'll back them if it come to that. >> thank you, we appreciate you breaking it down for us. family, nursing home residents in the u.s. we are demanding answers as more employees and children are showing i am symptoms of the virus. >> plus, the challengers are all 70s. should they change their behavior when it comes to rally

airlines. and this is the backdrop to which u.s. vice president mike pence has been talking to airline executives why they talking about it do you think that the u.s. government is going to give the industry any specific help beyond that 8000000000 that it's investing to fight the right break. while at least not yet and what did not come on the table when the airlines executives discussed with mike pence was the word bailout remember back then after the terror attacks of 2001 george w. bush big then offered a good 15000000000 dollars bailout to the industry in the years following actually we did see a lot of the big u.s. airlines filing for bankruptcy protection we saw some big mergers in the industry so we're not there yet but the big unknown clearly is for how much longer this situation is going to continue but at the moment specially the talks in the white house that was more what airlines can do for the country and not so much what can the country do for the airlines so one topic for example that was discussed to help trace the