United CEO: Domestic leisure travel demand up, business travel still down

United CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC's "Squawk Box" Tuesday that demand for domestic leisure travel has recovered to 2019 levels while international and business travel is still down sharply. To see more of the interview with Kirby sign up for a free trial to CNBC Pro: https://cnb.cx/3gpSn4M United Airlines’ shares fell more than 9% on Tuesday morning after the carrier reported its fifth consecutive quarterly loss, and its CEO expressed uncertainty about when two key parts of the business would recover from the coronavirus pandemic. CEO Scott Kirby said long-haul international and corporate travel demand is down about 80% compared with 2019 levels, depriving the carrier of high-paying customers it relied on before the crisis. “The big question is when do those two things come back and we’re not certain of when that is,” Kirby said an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” He said both segments would likely start recovering over the summer and through the second half of the year. The airline on Monday reported a $1.4 billion loss for the first quarter and said it could reach profitability even if long-haul international and business travel demand gets back to 35% of 2019 levels. United on Monday announced new flights to countries that have started to open their borders like Greece, Iceland and Croatia, and Kirby said the airline had strong bookings for those flights after they went on sale. The State Department, however, still recommends travelers reconsider trips abroad. On Monday, it said that it would increase “do not travel” advisories to 80% of the world’s countries, citing that the Covid-19 pandemic presents an “unprecedented risk to travelers.” Domestic leisure travel bookings to popular vacation destinations like beaches have surpassed 2019 levels, Kirby said. Vacationers flying within the U.S. have led the recovery in travel as more people get vaccinated, governments loosen travel restrictions and tourist attractions reopen. But companies still haven’t put many of their employees back on the road and international travel bans or quarantine requirements continue to keep many travelers closer to home. “I don’t know how people are finding hotels,” Kirby said of popular vacation destinations. » Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision » Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC » Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide. The News with Shepard Smith is CNBC’s daily news podcast providing deep, non-partisan coverage and perspective on the day’s most important stories. Available to listen by 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT daily beginning September 30: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/the-n... Connect with CNBC News Online Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/ Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC Follow CNBC News on Facebook: Follow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC https://www.cnbc.com/select/best-cred... #CNBC #CNBCTV