Coronavirus sends airlines toward record annual loss
The global airline industry is forecast to lose a record $84b this year with a return to profitability coming in 2022 at the earliest, even as carriers restore flights dropped during the pandemic. The latest outlook from the IATA sees a 55% drop in passenger traffic this year and a $16b deficit in 2021. The trade group also predicts the loss of 32m jobs tied to the air-travel business. North American airlines are forecast to lose a collective $23.1b this year, or $38.15 a passenger—which still makes them the best-performing region. SAirline stocks have climbed sharply over the past week as travel restrictions ease and carriers do more flying. Still, the sharp downturn is expected to have long-lasting effects on carriers as well as plane makers Boeing and Airbus. More than 14,000 planes are still parked world-wide because of the slump in travel and commerce since the coronavirus pandemic began. Passenger jets normally help meet cargo demand by carrying high-value items like consumer electronics, apparel and fresh fruit, and the slump has removed half the air-cargo capacity for such goods. The shortage of cargo space has almost doubled freight costs on busy trade routes, such as between China and the US, according to data provider WorldACD. Airlines have responded by returning cargo jets from desert storage and by reconfiguring passenger planes to carry freight in the main cabin.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-06-10/general/coronavirus-sends-airlines-toward-record-annual-loss
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Coronavirus sends airlines toward record annual loss
The global airline industry is forecast to lose a record $84b this year with a return to profitability coming in 2022 at the earliest, even as carriers restore flights dropped during the pandemic. The latest outlook from the IATA sees a 55% drop in passenger traffic this year and a $16b deficit in 2021. The trade group also predicts the loss of 32m jobs tied to the air-travel business. North American airlines are forecast to lose a collective $23.1b this year, or $38.15 a passenger—which still makes them the best-performing region. SAirline stocks have climbed sharply over the past week as travel restrictions ease and carriers do more flying. Still, the sharp downturn is expected to have long-lasting effects on carriers as well as plane makers Boeing and Airbus. More than 14,000 planes are still parked world-wide because of the slump in travel and commerce since the coronavirus pandemic began. Passenger jets normally help meet cargo demand by carrying high-value items like consumer electronics, apparel and fresh fruit, and the slump has removed half the air-cargo capacity for such goods. The shortage of cargo space has almost doubled freight costs on busy trade routes, such as between China and the US, according to data provider WorldACD. Airlines have responded by returning cargo jets from desert storage and by reconfiguring passenger planes to carry freight in the main cabin.<br/>
