Another Sign of Rising Travel Demand: JetBlue Starts to Recall Flight Attendants

After more than 12 months of bad news, green shoots are starting to become the norm for the travel industry, though there’s still a long way to go.

According to a company memo sent out on Tuesday and reported on by CNBC, JetBlue has begun reaching out to flight attendants on leave of absences, calling them back to work ahead of a “busy summer season.”

According to CNBC, JetBlue wants flight attendants back a month early to attend federally mandated training before April 22.

“As we enter a new phase of the pandemic with case counts going down and vaccination rates going up, our focus is now getting ready to safely ramp up operations for a busy summer season,” the memo said, according to reporting by CNBC.

The memo was sent as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continued to report encouraging passenger numbers.

On Friday, March 12, TSA screened 1.37 million people, the highest number of passengers screened on a single day since March 15 of last year and well off the COVID-19 low of 87,500 passengers from April 14, 2020, the second straight day of million-plus passengers after 1.28 million were screened on Thursday, March 11.

Those two days were followed by 1.22 million on Saturday, March 13; 1.34 million on Sunday, March 14; and 1.263 on Monday, March 15. The TSA then hit a sixth straight day of 1 million on Tuesday, March 16, with 1.08 million, the longest streak of million-plus passengers since the pandemic began.

The 1.37 million from Friday was still well below the 2.5 million passengers that the TSA screened during the same day in 2019.

Travel demand is also showing up in consumer surveys. According to the latest American Express Travel: Global Travel Trends Report, which surveyed 1,000 travelers in Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Mexico, and the UK and 2,000 in the U.S. between January 15 and 24.

The report found that an overwhelming majority (87%) of people said that having a trip planned in the future gives them something to look forward to. People are finding hope and comfort in thinking about and even planning future trips, with 78% of respondents indicate wanting to travel in 2021 to relieve the stresses from 2020.

To make up for missed travel, 61% of survey respondents plan to spend more than they normally would on a trip in 2021 since they could not travel in 2020.

“Our latest global trends report shows that there is a pent-up demand for travel among consumers, with many people longing for and beginning to plan future trips,” said Audrey Hendley, President of American Express Travel.

The survey also found that 65% of respondents said they plan to travel after they and their family members have received a vaccine for COVID-19.