Airlines are set to lose $84 billion as the coronavirus pandemic reduces revenues by half to mark the worst year in the sector's history, the International Air Transport Association forecast on Tuesday.
Conway G.
Gittens reports.
$84 billion.
That's how much the global airline industry is expected to lose this year, which would make 2020 the worst year ever for airlines.
That's the forecast put out Tuesday by the International Air Transport Association.
And the dire predictions don't stop there.
The losses will continue to pile up next year - hitting $100 billion as traffic likely struggles to recover and airlines slash fares to under-price one another to win back customers.
Total passenger numbers are expected to fall this year to just over 2 billion before a rebound in 2021, but according to forecasts, that bounce-back will still leave passenger numbers 25 percent below where they were in 2019.
While most of the world's airplanes remain parked - even in parts of the world where health concerns are minimum - and with passenger revenues in free-fall, airlines are piling up on debt and government assistance to keep their businesses out of bankruptcy.
But there have been some optimistic signs lately - passengers are slowly coming back and airlines are adding flights to their summer schedules - but industry watchers warn a patchwork of global travel restrictions and an overall unwillingness to fly are likely to keep any rebound in travel subdued - and few are willing to predict when air travel will return to normal.
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