Major US airlines are planning to voluntarily suspend all domestic flights, but could be ordered to do so by the government, industry and government sources told the Wall Street Journal.

The data comes as airlines are barely operating international flights while domestic flights are reduced by around 40 percent.

But the situation is getting worse in the United States. Thousands more flights were canceled on Monday due to a lack of passengers. The day before, the number of passengers at airport checkpoints was 80 percent lower than a year earlier, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

Flights may now be cancelled altogether, even if President Donald Trump is not in favor of such a measure. This is partly because many passenger flights also carry large amounts of mail and other important cargo.

The major airlines in the US are United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta Airlines. What the quartet have in common is that they have a common major owner, financier Warren Buffett's investment giant Berkshire Hathaway.

Source: finwire