EUROPEAN AIRLINES CANCEL SUMMER U.S. FLIGHTS IN PROTEST

Written by Michael Thervil

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[European airlines cancel U.S. flights] in a form of economic protest of America, Europe has quietly been on the path of pulling back and in some cases freezing aerial travel to America because of President Trump's trade tariffs on European countries. Flights to American cities like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Miami have been essentially put on a European “no-fly” list as European airlines either rerouted or increased their flights to western countries such as Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and Caribbean countries. Airline carriers such as British airways, KLM, SAS, Iberia, and Lufthansa have banded together in an effort to send America a strong message regarding America’s foreign policy towards them.

With these airline flights being increased and rerouted to foreign other western countries, European airlines have also increased their levels of deals and promotions in order to unite European travelers to go to other western countries for their summer holiday travels. Other reasons why European airlines have decided to band together to protest American tariffs and foreign policy stance is because they are pushing the notion of safety being the number one priority for their traveling customers. Many flight cuts from European countries to America have not been formally declared and some have been outright canceled.

Other American cities like Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Orlando Florida have been replaced with increased flights to countries such as India and Southeast Asia, Italy, Tunisia, Portugal,  West Asia, Spain, Croatia, and Greece. Other American cities to feel the economic burn from protesting European airlines consist of Boston, San Francisco, Newark, Dallas, the District of Washington D.C., and Atlanta. With nearly every major American city affected by this protest, the economic meltdown is sure to be felt. Exactly how much economic pain is being felt by America’s travel, hospitality, and tourism industry? With just a 10 to 13% cut in travel to America this summer, America stands to lose an estimated $8.5 - $9 billion in revenue. This data forecast was generated from oxford’s travel economics,

But it's not just the European airlines that are in protest of America and its policies, the people of various European countries are also protesting not with Yelp and google reviews, but with their wallets. In other cases, European travelers are legitimately afraid to travel to America because of it’s hostile positions and actions taken towards European countries. If this trend continues it could wreck devastating economic havoc on holiday travel for this year's American Christmas season.