MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th April, 2020) American Airlines, a major US airline, has temporarily reduced the number of flights to the two airports in the city of New York by more than 90 percent amid the coronavirus pandemic, the CNBC broadcaster reported, citing the company's memo.
On Sunday, another major airline in the country, United Airlines, said it was temporarily canceling up to 90 percent of its flights to and from Newark and La Guardia airports in New Jersey and New York, respectively. The decision came after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged the residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to refrain from traveling within the country for 14 days.
"As coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in New York City and the surrounding region continues to increase, along with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for travel to the area, the demand for flights to the New York area is rapidly evaporating," the media outlet cited the memo sent by David Seymour, the airline's senior vice president of operations.
American Airlines will continue operating only eight flights from the La Guardia Airport, while in April last year, the company operated 170 flights. Three daily flights will also be operated from the John F. Kennedy International Airport. Such a schedule will remain until May 6.
According to the Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center, there are over 337,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US, which is the largest number of COVID-19 cases of all countries. The United States has the third-largest death toll from COVID-19 in the world (over 9,600 fatalities), it is surpassed only by Italy (over 15,880 deaths) and Spain (more than 12,600 deaths). The city of New York alone has registered over 2,250 deaths from COVID-19.
