Southwest, United Airlines see weak demand over holidays, 1Q

United Airlines warns that bookings are slowing down and cancellations are on the rise as coronavirus cases spike across the U.S. Southwest Airlines expects travel demand to remain depressed in early 2021

DALLAS — United Airlines warned Thursday that bookings have slowed and cancellations have increased as the number of coronavirus infections spikes across the country.

Southwest Airlines has also seen more cancellations, and the carrier’s CEO said that travel demand will be remain weak in the first quarter.

The number of people flying in the United States is down about 65% from a year ago, and airlines were hoping that the upcoming holidays would mean an increase in leisure travel.

United said however that it continues to see the virus hurting travel.

In the past week, “there has been a deceleration in system bookings and an uptick in cancellations as a result…