Ep. 116 - Stephen Van Beek, Director & Head of North American Aviation, Steer

“Once we’re sort of back to some sense of normalcy we’re going to see a huge bump in economic activity, and then maybe [with] a little bit of a lag, in travel. That’s exactly what happened 100 years ago when the 1919 pandemic ended.” 

President Joe Biden faces several aviation-related challenges as he begins his term. They range from finding a way to pay for long-overdue infrastructure improvements in a time when the sources that traditionally fund those projects are significantly down to promoting competition between airlines and ensuring that air service to small communities doesn’t suffer due to economic challenges and pilot shortages. But there are also signs, such as projected GDP growth in the U.S. that could indicate recovery from the doldrums brought on by COVID-19 may be speeding up slightly faster than initially expected. And when the recovery is complete, the U.S. could be looking at an economic recovery resembling that of the Roaring Twenties that followed World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic. 

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