Boeing CEO Says at Least One Airline Will Fail Due to Pandemic

Image: PHOTO: Boeing corporate offices. (Photo courtesy of Boeing)
Image: PHOTO: Boeing corporate offices. (Photo courtesy of Boeing)
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 11:08 AM ET, Tue May 12, 2020

David Calhoun, the new CEO of Boeing, said on national television this morning that at least one airline could go under due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Calhoun, who took over his own troubled company in January, was asked by Savannah Guthrie on NBC's Today show this morning "Do you think there might be a major U.S. carrier that just has to go out of business?"

Said Calhoun: "Yes, most likely."

The CEO did not speculate on which airline would be most at risk to fold, but the entire industry is facing a crisis.

Demand for air travel is off 90 percent compared to last year, and virtually every U.S. airline has been forced to take grants and loans made available by the federal government as part of a stimulus package.

Calhoun also said he did not think air travel would rebound by the fall, as many had hoped.

Here is the full interview:


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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