Airline travel slowed in July as Delta variant spread, economist writes

Spending on entertainment and airline travel slowed in July as the Delta variant spread, according to new data.

July consumer credit card data analyzed by JPMorgan Chase shows spending on air travel fell by a whopping 20 percent in late July as cases of COVID-19 rose around the world, including in the US, while restaurant spending softened only modestly. “Airline spending has fallen almost 20 percent from a recent peak in mid-July, a larger decline than during the severe winter COVID wave, when spending was at much lower levels,” JPMorgan Chase economist Jesse Edgerton wrote in a research note.