Is anyone else annoyed by headlines like this? It's clickbait adjacent "Counterintuitive, I must click to learn more."
But the reality is, airlines are still airlines. They fly people from A to B, employ many thousands of pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers, etc. In other words, no, they're not banks. Not by any normal definition.
They're banks and their currency is miles. Their customers have accounts with balances, transactions, and they make money by selling miles that they make out of thin air. They don't just create miles from travels, they also sell them for real money to customers and business partners.
They're "more" banks than airlines in the sense that their loyalty programs valuation is roughly twice that of the airlines themselves.
The people transport business could continue on as a stand-alone business without the miles/loyalty business, whereas the opposite is not true. Also, banks typically take deposits, facilitate payments, etc.
But the reality is, airlines are still airlines. They fly people from A to B, employ many thousands of pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers, etc. In other words, no, they're not banks. Not by any normal definition.