[Dixieland jazz music plays]
-The second line is stepping off,
and they're dancing in the streets of Mobile, Alabama,
as guests of a new airline celebrate
the delivery of its first new plane from Airbus,
a European aerospace giant
that's now turning our aircraft on US soil.
As the world shakes off a pandemic that decimated
the travel industry, there is optimism here.
- Airlines are saying, "Passengers are back.
We'd like those airplanes
maybe a little bit sooner, if possible."
- The order books for new planes, full.
US and Canadian airlines alone have more than 850 Airbus
narrow-body planes coming -- the kind coming out of Mobile.
But there is also worry, heading into the holidays,
with airlines loading up on flights,
packing in passengers, trying to make money again.
- I have been in line for almost an hour and have not moved.
- We just got canceled on ours.
We don't know what to do.
- So far, multiple airlines have had multiple meltdowns --
American, Spirit, Southwest.
Schedules are tight, and there's a scramble for workers.
So any disruptions, from weather to computer-system outages,
cascade across the network.
- We have never seen anything like this happen
in the US airline industry before.
We've seen bad weather hit, we've seen strikes,
we've seen other issues affect the airline industry,
but never one where airlines just seem to be unraveling
as businesses in front of our eyes.
- US airlines say they're flying almost as full
as they were in 2019, before the pandemic,
when traffic was at an all-time high.
What hasn't quite returned, business travel
and those long overseas flights, but that's changing.
At London's Heathrow Airport,
these two planes are taking off at the same time,
heading for New York, the day the US border reopened
to fully vaccinated international visitors.
A day that also saw reunions of long-separated loved ones.
- Oh! - It has United Airlines
opening this swanky, new lounge at Washington's Dulles Airport
for its top-paying premium passengers
on those long-haul flights --
showers, sleeping, and sit-down dining included.
- Now, coming out of the pandemic,
we have relaunched our growth plan,
and having the Polaris Lounge in this particular location
is part of that growth.
- The pandemic even spawned several new airlines,
like Breeze from the founder of JetBlue,
seeing opportunity to fly to cities
with maybe not so much service.
Breeze has ordered 80 of these new smaller Airbus planes
that can fly great distances
with more fuel-efficient engines.
Two more already on the final assembly line.
- I think, with vaccines and natural immunity
and all the things that are happening,
and the case loads going down,
I think we're past the worst of it.
And I think there's a lot of pent-up demand.
And so we're seeing a lot of traffic.
- On board, if you haven't flown in a while,
some features that are now becoming common.
Larger overhead bins, designed to hold everyone's carry-ons.
Power outlets at every seat for your devices.
But expect every seat to be filled.
Airlines stopped blocking seats over COVID concerns months ago.
And expect limited on-board service, with no alcohol.
Most airlines still aren't selling it.
On the ground and in the air, masks are still mandatory.
[Indistinct shouting]
And some passengers are still unruly.
Inside airports, signs of life again.
A year ago, part of this concourse in Atlanta,
one of the world's busiest, walled off, with so few flying.
This is what it looks like now.
When it comes to getting something to eat or drink,
that should be easier, with more places open.
Washington's Reagan National Airport
is opening new security-screening halls,
putting all of this behind TSA.
You may also see new CT scanners for baggage --
-Thank you so much. - And automated belts and bins,
trying to move things along.
In Denver, a terminal redo in ticketing and security.
US airlines loaded up on flights to the slopes and to the sand.
They'll be flying more people than they have in several years,
but with 25,000 fewer airline workers,
according to government statistics.
- Unfortunately, we can't ignore the risk of airlines
not having enough people ready to work.
I am concerned that the revenue side of the airline
isn't always looking at the operational side of the airline.
- The big gamble, with all this flying in the coming season,
everything flows smoothly,
like jazz down the streets of Mobile.
[Dixieland jazz music plays]