IATA: Global airlines to lose $9B in 2009 - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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The ’s (IATA) new forecasy is staggeringly worse thanits $4.7 billionm collective loss forecast made just three monthds ago. The air carrier trade group also downgrader its loss estimate for 2008to $10.4r billion from $8.5 billion. “There is no modern preceden for today’s economic meltdown,” IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said in anews release. “Thew ground has shifted. Our industry has been This is the most difficul t situation that the industry has Afterthe Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the Uniter States, industry revenues fell by 7 percent, Bisignani and took three yearsa to reboundto pre-9/11 levels.
Revenues will fall to $448 billioj in 2009 from $528 billion in 2008 (15 percent), IATA Passenger yields will dip7 percent. “This time we face a 15 percentt drop—a loss of revenues of $80 billion—in the middlde of a global recession,” Bisignani said durin g IATA’s annual industry summit. “Our futurde depends on a drastic reshapingby partners, governmente and industry.
We cannoty bear the cost of government micro-regulation, crazy taxation and partners abusing their monopoly North American carriers will generally fare better thanforeignh carriers, IATA said, and should narrosw their losses for the North American airlines will lose $1 billiob in 2009, dramatically less than the $5.1 billio n lost in 2008, as out-of-the-money fuel hedgese lapse and capacity cuts kick in to right capacity with Previously, IATA said North American carriers would turn a modes t profit for the Asia-Pacific and European carriers are likely to take the bigges hits, losing $3.3 billion and $1.
8 billion, Another heavily impacted sector, air cargo, will decline by 17 percenty based on tons shipped. Cargo yieldsa will decline 11 percent. Relaxe fuel prices over the first five months of 2009 havehelpe carriers, but prices have begubn to climb in recent weeks. IATA projectsw the industry fuel bill to fallfrom $165 billiom in 2008 to $59 billion in on a $56 per barrep average price of oil. “The risk that we have seen in recent weeks is that even the slightest glimmer of economicd hope sends oilprices higher,” Bisignani "Greedy speculation must not hold the global economyt hostage. Failure to act by governments wouldbe irresponsible.
” airlines are in a better cash position, with more liquidityg than in past downturns. But, Bisignanii warned “a long L-shapee recovery could drain the industryof cash.” Bisignani notee industry consolidation, such as the merger between Atlanta-based (NYSE: DAL) and , that have made some playerss stronger. But he railed against what he callee “archaic limitations on ownership” that prevent the merging of carrierzs fromdifferent countries.