page_title: Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
section_title: Travel industry
hierarchical_section_title: Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States / Impact by economic sector / Travel industry
caption_attribution_description: The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) provides the most comprehensive weekly data available for U.S. crude oil and refined petroleum product balances. The WPSR includes detailed regional and national supply information each week on crude oil, as well as motor gasoline, distillate fuel oil, jet fuel, residual fuel, and propane (the major petroleum products used in the United States). Using the most recent WPSR data, this chart compares current estimates of U.S. gasoline consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic to typical levels for this time of year. &lt;a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=43375" rel="noreferrer nofollow"&gt;www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=43375&lt;/a&gt; April 16, 2020
context_page_description: The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has been largely disruptive, adversely affecting travel, financial markets, employment, shipping, and other industries.
context_section_description: In mid-March, most major American and foreign airlines began cutting back on domestic and international flights as a result of the sudden drop in travel demand from the pandemic and subsequent travel bans. They have phased out routes and were making frequent schedule updates. Cruise lines suspended all departures from the United States on March 14.
  The outbreak produced occasional disruptions to air traffic control with area control centers in New York and Indianapolis, and airport towers at Midway International Airport in Chicago and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas evacuated for sterilization after at least one person who had been in each tested positive for COVID-19.
  On March 14, Amtrak reduced its service between Washington and Boston as the COVID-19 outbreak drastically decreased travel demand. It faced steep revenue losses during the crisis. It also asked noncritical employees "to take time off on an unpaid basis." By the following week, New York's subways, usually the nation's busiest, were running mostly empty, which had the Metropolitan Transportation Authority using $1 billion from its line of credit to stay afloat.
  The lobbying group for the airline industry, Airlines for America (A4A), on March 16 called for a $50 billion subsidy, including $4 billion for cargo services. CNBC reports that airlines are preparing for a ban on domestic flights after President Trump said on March 14 he is considering travel curbs and acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf said all options remained on the table when asked about a possible ban, the first since the September 11 attacks in 2001. United Airlines said they expected a drop of $1.5 billion in March revenue, American Airlines said they expected to decrease domestic capacity by 20% in April and 30% in May, and Delta Air Lines told employees it would cut capacity by 40%.
caption: Demand for motor gasoline fell sharply.
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