I think Kirby, and most other airlines, are betting (correctly in my view) that the revised calendar means there is more leisure travel out there than pre-Covid.
- The in-person work week has shrank - Fridays and increasingly Mondays are flex or those that are in an office at all
- The holiday calendar has expanded - schools have more days off, more seasonal breaks, new federal holidays, etc
In this environment there will just be more leisure demand. The economic cycle will happen but there are more leisure passengers to get in all parts of the cycle. With leisure flying normalizing, and corporate travel improved but down, you still have a lot of demand, and an ability to reinstate elite requirements. Plane orders like 787s are better able to compete for the premium leisure customer as well. I wish Delta flew the 787, I like plane a lot