European airline chiefs insist transatlantic demand on track despite Trump concerns

Cautious European airline leaders have so far seen no negative effects from the policies of US President Donald Trump on the lucrative transatlantic passenger market, although they are continuing to keep a close eye on trends. Speaking during the A4E Aviation Summit in Brussels on 27 March, the CEs of the three big European airline groups agreed that forward bookings between Europe and the USA were tracking in line with expectations – for now. “Many of us, as well as our American competitors, are not seeing anything as of today,” says Air France-KLM CE Ben Smith. Nevertheless, Smith describes the situation as “concerning for us”, adding that the group continues to study developments “very, very closely”. That concern partly comes from the risk factors that have ramped up in recent weeks – and the real-world impacts of the Trump administration’s actions in some airline markets already. Those risk factors include falling confidence among US consumers in the world’s largest economy, which has already had an impact in domestic leisure markets in particular, prompting a number of US carriers to downgrade their earnings expectations for the first quarter. And with the US administration instigating trade wars and showing hostility to key allies, there is a concern that European travellers, for example, might choose to fly – and do business – elsewhere. <br/>