As Brian has shown, the near-term industry outlook has actually gotten darker, something I would not have believed possible just a few months ago.
In normal times, the peak summer travel season provides airlines with a cash cushion to help weather the slower autumn and winter seasons. But this year the industry is heading into the slow season in the worst financial position in its history
This highlights two points:
- This is no time for governments to walk away. The industry is grateful to those governments that have already provided support, but new job-saving measures are needed--including financial measures that do not add to overstressed balance sheets.
- The second point is that for the good of aviation and the global economy we need to reopen borders and remove travel killing quarantines. The ability to travel is absolutely central to doing business in our highly integrated global economy; and globalization has lifted more than a billion people from poverty since 1990. … read more