Despite steady travel demand, United Airlines said travel from the United States government has slowed down after President Donald Trump took office last month.
United Airline’s chief financial officer, Mike Leskinen told a Barclays industry conference on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) that government travel “has [had] fall off here, post-inauguration”.
According to a United Airlines spokesperson, the travel government sector makes up around 2% of United Airlines’s revenue. Last year the airline brought it around US$52 billion in passenger revenue and Leskinen said other demand is helping to make up for the shortfall.
Leskinen said strong international and leisure travel demand continues to outshine domestic demand.
This comes as Trump and Elon Musk have vowed to cut costs in the administration, with thousands of government workers being laid off or offered buyouts, as unemployment spikes in Washington.
Many of Trump and Musk’s attempts have been met with pushback from judges, unions and democrats with the Trump administration even attempting to rehire some of its staff. Despite this, some government areas have been hit hard with the layoffs, like the Department of Homeland Security, where 400 jobs have been slashed.
