Impact of COVID-19 on Passenger and Freight Transportation
When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, countries struggled to stop its spread: sports teams canceled entire seasons, schools closed, workers began working from home and countries sealed their borders.
Lockdowns and travel restrictions had a significant impact on the transportation industries but not all segments. Unlike freight transportation industries, estimated revenues for industries supporting passenger transportation saw no increases from 2019 to 2020, according to the 2021 Service Annual Survey (SAS).
Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation estimated revenue for employer firms declined 60.0% from $206.8 billion in 2019 to $82.8 billion in 2020.
As COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out in early 2021 and some travel restrictions were lifted, the industry began to see a resurgence: revenues increased 60.1% to $132.5 billion.
