Raphael Stevens

Emirates has said it doesn’t see travel demand dissipating any time soon, even as the industry battles a string of challenges that have led to weeks of flight delays and cancellations.
“It’s unlikely that, irrespective of impediment — whether it be price, whether it be airport facilities — that demand is going to dissipate in the short-term,” Emirates president Tim Clark told CNBC.
The airline industry has been hamstrung by a perfect storm of labor shortages, supply disruptions and rising fuel prices as it seeks to capitalize on a recent travel reopening.

Emirates has said it doesn’t see travel demand dissipating any time soon, even as the industry battles a string of challenges that have already sparked airport chaos ahead of the busy summer holiday season.
Tim Clark, president of the Dubai-based carrier and an airline veteran, said that he had “never seen anything” like the headwinds currently facing the industry. Yet, holidaymakers don’t seem to be deterred from seizing newly resumed travel opportunities.

“It’s unlikely that, irrespective of impediment — whether it be price, whether it be airport facilities — that demand is going to dissipate in the short-term,” Clark told CNBC’s Dan Murphy at the International Air Transport Association’s 78th Annual General Meeting in Doha, Qatar.
The airline industry has been hamstrung by a perfect storm of challenges, from labor shortages and supply disruptions to rising fuel prices, resulting in weeks of severe delays and cancellations across some of Europe and North America’s busiest airports.
On Saturday, more than 6,300 flights were delayed within, into or leaving the U.S., and 859 flights were canceled, according to the flight tracking platform FlightAware. Similarly, tens of thousands of flights have been disrupted across Europe in recent days, with 5,000 passengers at London’s Heathrow Airport expected to be hit by cancellations on Monday alone.

The airline industry has been hamstrung by a perfect storm of challenges over recent weeks, from labor shortages and supply disruptions to rising fuel prices.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

However, Clark said that passengers currently appear to be willing to pay the price — both financial and otherwise — for post-pandemic travel.
“The airline community has had to raise its prices to cover off and mitigate the fuel price increase, which has been astronomical. But the demand remains resilient, and we don’t see any slackening of that,” he said.

How long that may last is anyone’s guess, Clark said. Rising inflationary pressures and a worsening cost of living crisis, as well as wider sociopolitical concerns as a result of the war in Ukraine, all spell further headwinds for the industry, he added.
“Will demand taper or dilute over the next years as these major economic factors — which are so adverse to our business, and the global economy — remain in place? Or will those go down first? I don’t know which it’s going to be,” he said.
Clark urged greater industry collaboration and coordination to get through the summer travel peak, noting “we’ve just got to muddle through this and focus on getting the job done, rather than beating each other up.”
Still, he said he expects Emirates, hampered by two years of billion-dollar losses, including a $1.1 billion loss in 2021, expects to return to profitability in 2022.
“At the moment I’m pleased to say we’re making money,” Clark said. “Unless something else extraordinary happens, I think Emirates will be profitable in this financial year.”

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There are over two million electric vehicles in the U.S., and roughly 55,000 EV charging stations.
The U.S. may need to increase the supply of EV charging by as much as 20 times, to over 1 million public and 28 million private chargers.
Ford already has the largest charging infrastructure, GM is planning to leverage its dealerships as local EV charging partners, and Tesla is opening its network to all cars.

Charging port for a Ford Motor Co. Mustang during the Washington Auto Show in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

More people than ever are buying electric vehicles. There are about 2 million EVs on the road in the U.S., up six-fold since 2016, but the number of EVs is still a very small slice of the more than 280 million vehicles in operation. Some factors, such as upfront cost and battery range, are largely manufacturing and innovation challenges being handled inside companies. But another source of consumer resistance opens up a complex set of questions that will need to be addressed on a macro level – the availability of charging stations and a power grid that can handle them.
Currently, cars and trucks combine to produce about one-fifth of green-house gas emissions. In order to meet net-zero emissions targets in the decades ahead, consumers are going to have to buy a lot of electric vehicles, and they are going to need a lot of places to charge them. The Department of Energy actively tracks the total number of public charging stations (the total number of charging ports is higher) in the country, a number that now stands at 55,000. If that sounds like a lot, consider that there are close to three times as many gas stations. Also, bear in mind that although EV charge times vary widely, they are significantly slower than gassing up, so congestion is a significant issue at charging stations. 

According to a recent McKinsey & Company Report, about 20-times more charging stations will be needed than are now available, up to 1.2 million public chargers.
Where competition has been an important part of EV innovation, public and private cooperation will help to drive development of EV-charging infrastructure. The Biden administration recently announced new standards for EV charging in line with its goal of installing 500,000 additional charging stations by 2030, and the $7.5 billion set aside by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents the government’s first investment in EV chargers. The minimum standards will help establish the groundwork for states to build charging station projects that are accessible to all drivers regardless of the location, EV brand or charging company.
“Public funding is especially important for highway corridor charging given the challenging business case as the EV market continues grow,” said a GM spokesman.
Infrastructure doesn’t have the appeal of splashy new vehicle rollouts like the Chevy Silverado EV or Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning pickup, and as the GM spokesman explained, there is an ongoing need for cross-sector collaboration and policy support to streamline permitting, proactively engage electric utilities, accelerate siting and grid interconnection timelines, and eliminate other outstanding infrastructure deployment barriers.
“This really requires an ‘all hands on deck’ approach,” he said.

Part of the shortfall of charging infrastructure has to do with the nature of EV purchases thus far. Tesla represents 80% of the EV market in the U.S. With an entry-level Tesla costing around $50,000 and 80% of Tesla owners charging at home, the development of public charging stations has not kept pace with future needs. 
But there are signs this is changing. 
Tesla, which had used its own proprietary technology for its Supercharger network, has been moving away from that model. Last July, Tesla CEO Elon Musk noted in a tweet that Tesla created its own network because none existed. “We created our own connector, as there was no standard back then & Tesla was only maker of long range electric cars. That said, we’re making our Supercharger network open to all other EVs.” 
As GM sees it, the sheer number of chargers, while important, is only part of the story.
“We believe the focus needs to be on building an overall charging ecosystem that enables convenient, reliable, affordable charging access for all, and this is what we’re trying to do with Ultium Charge 360,” the GM spokesman said. This includes expanding access at home (including multi-family housing), at work, and in strategic public locations, as well as for additional use cases like fleets. “It also means getting the right chargers in the right locations to meet customer needs and build confidence both now and in the future,” he said.
At the Future of the Car conference in May, Musk said that Tesla will add CCS connectors to its Supercharger network: “It’s a little trickier in the U.S. because we have a different connector than the rest of the industry, but we will be adding the rest of the industry connector as an option to Superchargers in the U.S.,” Musk said. The combined-charger system (CCS) is standard across Europe, and adding the Tesla adapter gives Tesla-owners access to more charging options, combined with allowing non-Tesla owners access to the Supercharger network. 
In April, Musk — whose relationship with the Biden administration, and Democratic Party, has been tense — sat down with Biden officials and GM CEO Mary Barra to discuss EV-charging infrastructure. The Department of Transportation described the event in cooperative terms: “​​Broad consensus that charging stations and vehicles need to be interoperable and provide a seamless user experience, no matter what car you drive or where you charge your EV,” said a DoT statement.
Over the next ten years, Ford plans to increase spending on EVs by as much as $20 billion. Its BlueOval Charging Network is the largest public charging network in North America, with close to 20,000 charging stations featuring 60,000-plus plugs. Speaking about the rapid acceleration of its EV plans, Ford CEO Jim Farley said at a recent EV launch event, “That’s something that no one would have believed just two years ago from us.”
The culture surrounding EV-charging stations differs significantly from that of gas stations, with the prevalence of at-home charging raising questions about equity and access, and a divide between urban and rural areas, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. There are significant parts of rural America where one could drive for some time without seeing an EV-charging station, while filling stations punctuate the landscape at regular intervals. GM and Ford will have to be a big part of this essential effort to combat “charging deserts.”
GM, through its Dealer Community Charging Program, will distribute up to 10 charging stations to its EV dealers. This will add some 40,000 stations, evenly distributed across the country, particularly in underserved areas. This will help place many consumers in range of charging: nearly 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a GM dealership. As part of a $750 million initiative, these stations can be distributed at the discretion of the GM dealerships throughout their communities.
“We want to give customers the right tools and access to charging where and when they need it,” GM President Mark Reuss said in a statement last October about its goals, “while working with our dealer network to accelerate the expansion of accessible charging in underserved, rural and urban areas.”
GM expects most charging will occur at home, which is convenient for most customers. McKinsey estimates that the U.S. will need 28 million private chargers by 2030. GM’s Ultium smart chargers, which will be available later this year, will give customers and businesses the opportunity to roll the cost into lease payments and vehicle loans.
It is also placing charging in public locations where customers are already spending time intervals of 30 minutes to a few hours — such as grocery stores and gyms – to enable more convenient public charging. An example of this is GM’s collaboration with EVgo to install 3,250 DC fast chargers in major metropolitan areas by the end of 2025.
As challenging as the issue of charging deserts is the question of urban infrastructure, where even willing buyers – many of whom are also apartment dwellers – may have significant challenges in locating convenient and reliable charging stations. In an urban setting or in the case of urban fleets, a big issue is lack of garages or other facilities where individual charging stalls could be deployed. According to Yury Dvorkin, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and member of the C2SMART Tier 1 Transport Center at NYU Tandon, a key solution is public charging infrastructure, which needs to be high-wattage (to ensure high charging power and thus charging speed) and multi-stall (to ensure that many EVs can charge at the same time).
“If you can buy a relatively cheap EV (if you collect all incentives and tax benefits), the purchasing price is affordable to a vast number of people living in U.S. urban areas and the real limit for adoption is in fact access to public charging infrastructure,” Dvorkin said. 
The major automakers are calling for an extension of those government incentives for EV purchases. Meanwhile, the recent infrastructure funding is an “important step forward” for EV infrastructure, Dvorkin said, but more as an opening to further R&D than a cure all.
There are numerous “techno-economic challenges,” Dvorkin said, to be solved beyond the direct control of the auto companies. Primary ones are permitting restrictions and, more essentially, power grid limitations. “Permitting is still a challenge and it may take months until an EV charging station is approved,” he said. “And there is a need to ensure that the grid is capable of delivering electric power to the EV charging stations; this requires the development of tools for deciding where EV charging infrastructure should be deployed in order to satisfy consumer demand and power grid limits.”
Actions from legacy automakers like GM and Ford underscore the cultural shift built into the move toward EVs and can spur a change in the national automotive culture. Although later to the game than Tesla, the big automakers represent core notions of the automobile long woven into the American imagination: freedom, possibility, escape — none of which play out very well if you can’t keep your battery charged. As GM and Ford pick up the pace of their EV manufacturing, and Tesla expands access to its EV-charging infrastructure, the larger imagination can move with them, with more readily available charging along the way.
“It’s Ford Motor Company … the Model-T. This is what we do. We aren’t some new start-up,” Farley recently told CNBC.  
–By Trevor Laurence Jockims, special to CNBC.com More

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Gothenburg-headquartered Volvo Trucks says refueling of the vehicles will take under 15 minutes.
While there is excitement in some quarters about the potential of hydrogen powered vehicles, there are hurdles when it comes to expanding the sector.
Competition to develop low and zero emission options within the trucking sector has increased in recent years.

According to Volvo Trucks, fuel cells for the vehicles will be provided by cellcentric, a joint venture with Daimler Truck that was established in March 2021.
Tomohiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Volvo Trucks said Monday that it had begun to test vehicles that use “fuel cells powered by hydrogen,” with the Swedish firm claiming their range could extend to as much as 1,000 kilometers, or a little over 621 miles.
In a statement, Gothenburg-headquartered Volvo Trucks said refueling of the vehicles would take under 15 minutes. Customer pilots are set to begin in the next few years, with commercialization “planned for the latter part of this decade.”

Fuel cells for the vehicles will be provided by cellcentric, a joint venture with Daimler Truck that was established in March 2021.
“Hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric trucks will be especially suitable for long distances and heavy, energy-demanding assignments,” Roger Alm, president of Volvo Trucks, said.
Alongside hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, Volvo Trucks — which is part of the Volvo Group — has also developed battery-electric trucks.

Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

The electrification of long-haul, heavy-duty trucks poses its own unique set of challenges. The International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook for 2021 has described long-haul trucking as needing “advanced technologies for high power charging and/or large batteries.”
Competition within the sector has increased in recent years. Volvo Trucks’ focus on zero-emission technologies will put it in competition with companies like Tesla and JV partner Daimler Truck, which are both developing electric trucks.

Like Volvo Trucks, Daimler Truck is focusing on both battery-electric and hydrogen vehicles.
In an interview with CNBC last year Martin Daum, chairman of the board of management at Daimler Truck, was asked about the debate between battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell.
“We go for both because both … make sense,” he replied, before explaining how different technologies would be appropriate in different scenarios.
“In general, you can say: If you go to city delivery where you need lower amounts of energy in there, you can charge overnight in a depot, then it’s certainly battery electric,” he said.
“But the moment you’re on the road, the moment you go from Stockholm to Barcelona … in my opinion, you need something which you can transport better and where you can refuel better and that is ultimately H2.”
“The ruling is not out, but I think it’s too risky for a company our size to go with just one technology.”

Read more about energy from CNBC Pro

While there is excitement in some quarters about the potential of hydrogen-powered vehicles, there are hurdles when it comes to expanding the sector, a point acknowledged by Volvo Trucks on Monday.
It pointed to challenges including the “large-scale supply of green hydrogen” as well as “the fact that refueling infrastructure for heavy vehicles is yet to be developed.”
Described by the IEA as a “versatile energy carrier,” hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries.
It can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.
If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar then some call it “green” or “renewable” hydrogen. Today, the vast majority of hydrogen generation is based on fossil fuels.
Last week, Volvo Construction Equipment, which is also part of the Volvo Group, said it had commenced testing of a “fuel cell articulated hauler prototype.” More

The housing market has cooled off a bit after an incredibly hot stretch fueled by the pandemic. That doesn’t mean it’s about to be 2007 all over again.
America’s housing market is in far better health today. That’s thanks, in part, to new lending regulations that resulted from that meltdown.
There aren’t as many risky loans or mortgage delinquencies, although high home prices are forcing many people out of the market.

As quickly as mortgage rates are rising, the once red-hot housing market is cooling off. Home prices are still historically high, but there is concern now that they will ease up as well.
All of this has people asking: Is today’s housing market in the same predicament that it was over a decade ago, when the 2007-08 crash caused the Great Recession?

The short answer is: no. America’s housing market is in far better health today. That’s thanks, in part, to new lending regulations that resulted from that meltdown. Those rules put today’s borrowers on far firmer footing.
For the 53.5 million first lien home mortgages in America today, the average borrower FICO credit score is a record high 751. It was 699 in 2010, two years after the financial sector’s meltdown. Lenders have been much more strict about lending, much of that reflected in credit quality.
Home prices have soared, as well, due to pandemic-fueled demand over the past two years. That gives today’s homeowners record amounts of home equity. So-called tappable equity, which is the amount of cash a borrower can take out of their home while still leaving 20% equity on paper, hit a record high of $11 trillion collectively this year, according to Black Knight, a mortgage technology and data provider. That’s a 34% increase from a year ago.
At the same time, leverage, which is how much debt the homeowner has against the home’s value, has fallen dramatically.
Total mortgage debt in the United States is now less than 43% of current home values, the lowest on record. Negative equity, which is when a borrower owes more on the loan than the home is worth, is virtually nonexistent. Compare that to the more than 1 in 4 borrowers who were under water in 2011. Just 2.5% of borrowers have less than 10% equity in their homes. All of this provides a huge cushion should home prices actually fall.

Not as many risky loans

There are currently 2.5 million adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, outstanding today, or about 8% of active mortgages. That is the lowest volume on record. ARMs can be fixed, usually for terms of five, seven or 10 years.
In 2007, just before the housing market crash, there were 13.1 million ARMs, representing 36% of all mortgages. Back then, the underwriting on those types of loans was sketchy, to say the least, but new regulations following the housing crash changed the rules.
ARMs today are not only underwritten to their fully indexed interest rate, but more than 80% of today’s ARM originations also operate under a fixed rate for the first seven to 10 years.

A “For Sale” outside a house in Hercules, California, US, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Homebuyers are facing a worsening affordability situation with mortgage rates hovering around the highest levels in more than a decade.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Today, 1.4 million ARMs are currently facing higher rate resets, so given higher rates, those borrowers will have to make higher monthly payments. That is unquestionably a risk. But, in 2007, about 10 million ARMs were facing higher resets.

Mortgage delinquencies are low

Mortgage delinquencies are now at a record low, with just under 3% of mortgages past due. Even with the sharp jump in delinquencies during the first year of the pandemic, there are fewer past-due mortgages than there were before the pandemic. Pandemic-related mortgage forbearance programs helped millions of borrowers recover, but there are still 645,000 borrowers in those programs.
“The mortgage market is on very historically strong footing,” said Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research at Black Knight. “Even the millions of homeowners who availed themselves of forbearance during the pandemic have by and large been performing well since leaving their plans.”
There are, however, about 300,000 borrowers who have exhausted pandemic-related forbearance programs and are still delinquent. In addition, while mortgage delinquencies are still historically low, they have been trending higher lately, especially for more recent loan originations.
“We’ll want to keep an eye on this population moving forward,” Walden said.
Mortgage credit availability is well below where it was just before the pandemic, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, suggesting still-tight standards. But lenders have lost about half their business since rates began rising, and that could mean they become more aggressive in lending to less credit-worthy borrowers.
The biggest problem in the housing market now is home affordability, which is at a record low in at least 44 major markets, according to Black Knight. While inventory is starting to rise, it is still about half of pre-pandemic levels.
“Rising inventory will eventually cool home price growth, but the double-digit pace has shown remarkable sticking power so far,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “As higher housing costs begin to max out some buyers’ budgets, those who remain in the market can look forward to relatively less competitive conditions later in the year.”

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Life Changes

You don’t have to be older and rich to start estate planning. In fact, the earlier you start, the better.
Estate planning “involves relatively simple documents, but I’ve seen some horror stories when people don’t address the situation adequately,” said certified financial planner Sheryl Garrett, founder of The Garrett Planning Network.
Key actions are drawing up a will and living will, as well as a health-care power of attorney, and designating your beneficiaries.

Jodi Jacobson | Getty Images

You don’t have to be older and rich to do some estate planning.
In fact, regardless of age and wealth, experts say virtually everyone should consider how they want their assets distributed upon their death and what decisions will be made by whom if they are unable to make those decisions later in life.

For the sake of yourself — and, more importantly, your loved ones — getting your estate and health-care directives in order can prevent a lot of emotional pain and suffering down the road.
“A lot of people think they can do their estate planning later, but that’s not always the case,” said Sheryl Garrett, a certified financial planner and founder of the Garrett Planning Network in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. “It involves relatively simple documents, but I’ve seen some horror stories when people don’t address the situation adequately.”

More from Life Changes:

Here’s a look at other stories offering a financial angle on important lifetime milestones.

Garrett detailed some of the key estate-planning issues to consider — sooner rather than later.

Drawing up your will

A will details how you wish your assets to be distributed after you die. Templates for this document and many others can be downloaded for free from websites such as LawDepot.com.
“A will is a simple slam dunk for most people,” Garrett said.

The form requires you to appoint an executor of your estate and an alternative executor if your first choice is unable to fulfill the role. It requires details of who is to receive which assets and whether there are any conditions that need to be met before beneficiaries receive their inheritance, such as minors reaching a certain age first.
“The most important thing is to name a guardian if you have dependent children,” Garrett explained. “It is easiest if one person is executor of the will and the guardian of dependents, but it doesn’t always make sense.

If you wanted all your assets to go to your spouse or children, other heirs may contest that wish if you don’t have a will.

Sheryl Garrett
founder of the Garrett Planning Network

“It may be better to have one person take care of dependents while another manages the resources to take care of them.”
A common misconception many married people have is that, absent a will, all assets and investments go to their spouse. That is often not the case, Garrett said.
“State law often dictates that if there is no will, the state will provide one and, in many cases, assets are evenly split among all heirs,” she explained. “If you wanted all your assets to go to your spouse or children, other heirs may contest that wish if you don’t have a will.”

Designating your beneficiaries

One cheap and simple alternative to the execution of a will in court is to set up beneficiary designations for your specific assets. You can do that with everything from bank accounts to investment accounts, personal property and real estate.
It removes those assets from the estate and reduces the cost of settling the estate in court. “Most middle-class Americans can cover almost everything of value with beneficiary designations,” Garrett said. “It’s cheaper and makes things go easier.”

Your health-care power of attorney

Choosing a person to make health-care decisions for you is critical if you become unable to do so. A health-care power of attorney allows someone to empower another person as agent to make those decisions. You can choose anyone, but make sure you trust them deeply.
The health-care power of attorney also enables you to detail health-care and medical treatments you may not want under different circumstances. Your health-care agent will be required to follow those wishes.
“Most people want to be in control instead of leaving these decisions to loved ones,” Garrett said. “Do them a favor and do it yourself with relatively simple documents to fill out.
“You can update them if you change your mind later about anything.”
It is crucial that your health-care agent, as well as your doctor, has a signed copy of the power of attorney document.

Specify your wishes in a living will

Similar to the health-care power of attorney, a living will provides directions for life-saving treatments you may or may not want under different circumstances. Your health-care agent will be tasked with ensuring that your wishes are followed.
A “do not resuscitate,” or DNR, order is a separate document that is part of a living will that describes under what conditions you would not want life-saving treatments.
It is important to be aware that health-care institutions often require that people fill out their own in-house forms regarding health-care directives. Also try to ensure that your health-care agent can in theory be present if you are admitted to a hospital emergency room so their authority is immediately recognized.
“In my opinion, health-care [powers of attorney] and living wills are the most important things to address because they kick in while you’re alive,” said Garrett, who lost her spouse six months ago. “The rest of the stuff applies when you’re dead.”

How much does it cost?

 Estate planning does not have to be expensive. In fact, you can download a basic will and other documents like a healthcare power of attorney for free at website lawdepot.com. The forms do not need to be notarized, only signed by the creator of the will and one or more witnesses depending on state law.
There are also online sites like Quicken and LegalZoom that offer templates for estate planning documents and guidance in filling them out, generally for less than $100.
Garrett says there’s nothing wrong with going the “doing it yourself” route, but suggests you have a lawyer eventually check things out particularly if you have a significant amount of assets and more than a few beneficiaries.
Lawyers will cost you anywhere from $100 to $400 per hour. Simple wills should not require more than a couple of hours to draft with complicated estates requiring a couple of hours more. More

Air travel is roaring back, but not without some significant hiccups.
Particularly in North America and Europe, travelers have described chaos at airports, with scores of flights canceled or delayed, luggage lost and wait times to board planes exceeding four hours.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh, speaking to CNBC from Doha, said airport chaos and delays are “isolated” and that not every airport is experiencing problems.

Air travel is roaring back, but not without some significant hiccups.
Particularly in North America and Europe, travelers have described chaos at airports, with scores of flights canceled or delayed, luggage lost and wait times to board planes exceeding four hours. That’s partly the result of labor shortages from the pandemic, as layoffs have put pressure on airports and airlines facing a surge of summer passengers eager to travel.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, speaking to CNBC’s Dan Murphy about the sector’s recovery, said that after nearly two years of dramatically reduced activity, it’s going to take some time to get the system up and running smoothly again.
“The entire industry everywhere is experiencing this, and we’re seeing some of it in Australia,” Joyce said at the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) 78th Annual General Meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday.
It’s “not as bad as you’re seeing in Europe or in the North American market,” the CEO said. “We saw during Easter long queues at airports; nothing like you’ve seen in London, Manchester and Dublin and other places around Europe.”

“And I think it does take a while. The system is rusty, everything was closed down for two years,” he added. “It is going to take awhile to get that system humming again. It’s a huge complicated business, there’s a lot of moving parts involved in it.”
IATA Director General Willie Walsh, in a separate interview from Doha, said airport chaos and delays are “isolated” and not every airport is experiencing problems.Nevertheless, he added that the airline industry isn’t yet “out of the woods” when it comes to recovery.

“Yes we want to do better, and yes we will do better. But I would strongly urge consumers looking at the opportunity to fly to reflect on the fact that this isn’t happening everywhere,” Walsh said. “And in the vast, vast majority of cases flights are operating on schedule, without disruption, without any problems at the airport, and I think you can look forward to enjoying the experience of flying again.” 
Those comments came as thousands more flights were canceled in the U.S. over the weekend and the prior Friday, which was so far the busiest air travel day for the country this year, according to the Transport Security Administration. By Friday afternoon, airlines had canceled more than 1,000 flights, after already canceling 1,700 on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.
On Saturday, some 6,300 flights into, from and within the U.S. were delayed and more than 800 were canceled, NBC News reported, citing flight tracking site FlightAware.

‘Demand is massive’

Still, for Qantas, Australia’s flagship carrier, the domestic comeback appears to be firing on all cylinders.
“It’s really good — in Australia, the domestic market, we’re seeing massive growth in demand, with demand for leisure over 120%, the corporate market and the SME markets back to 90% of pre-Covid levels, and so we have nearly full capacity restored in the domestic market,” Joyce said.
International flight recovery is “a little bit slower,” he said, at about 50% of pre-Covid levels. But he expects that by Christmas, international business will be at 85% of pre-Covid levels and that by “March next year we’ll get to 100%.”
“But demand is massive,” he added. “We’re having more demand internationally than, in some cases, we’ve seen before Covid, with less capacity, which is allowing us to recover fuels costs, get yields up.”

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