The COVID-19 pandemic has had a particularly pronounced effect
on the aviation sector. Passenger carriers have grounded their
aircraft and slashed their schedules, cargo carriers scrambled to
maintain healthcare and other critical supply chains while dealing
with travel restrictions and the challenge of keeping their workers
safe, and airports rushed to introduce new health and safety
measures while dealing with plummeting passenger traffic and
revenues. While the human, commercial and operational impacts of
this crisis have been profound, the entire industry has grappled
with a patchwork quilt of inconsistent regulatory requirements.
While predictions are risky even in the best of times, here are a
few (cautious) predictions about the likely aviation priorities of
the Biden Administration and of Peter Buttigieg, a former mayor of
South Bend, Indiana, who is expected to be nominated to become the
next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
