Airlines Face ‘Desperate’ Situation, Official Says
Caroline Brothers, New York Times
Citing high oil prices and the slowing economy, the International Air Transport Association on Monday sharply lowered its industry forecast for 2008, saying it now expected a collective loss of at least $2.3 billion.
… If the price of oil, now just below $130 a barrel, averages $107 over 2008, the industry will lose $2.3 billion for the year, the chief executive of the group, Giovanni Bisignani, said. Should it trade at $135 a barrel for the rest of the year, the industry will lose $6.1 billion, he added.
“After enormous efficiency gains since 2001, there is no fat left, and skyrocketing oil prices are changing everything,” Mr. Bisignani said. “The situation is desperate and potentially more destructive than our recent battles with all the Horsemen of the Apocalypse combined.”
(3 June 2008)
Cheap flights era over as fuel prices soar
By David Millward, Transport Editor in Istanbul, The Daily Telegraph
The era of the cheap flight is over as passengers face having to pay extra for everything from luggage to meals on board, senior figures in the aviation industry have warned.
Ticket prices are set to soar as airlines struggle to cope with soaring oil prices while additional charges could also be introduced for a range of other services.
With the industry on course to lose as much as £3 billion this year, carriers are desperate to recoup their costs and making passengers pay for everything over and above the flight could add as much as £30 to the price of every plane ticket.
….The starkest warning that the era of cheap flights is over came from Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association, the industry trade body.
”When you add $50 billion to the bill, somebody has to take care of the cost,” he said.
(2 Jun 2008)
Airlines stage fightback on environmental criticism
Dan Milmo, Guardian
Airlines today signalled the start of a fightback against environmental criticism of the industry, blaming the media for negative publicity over their contribution to climate change.
Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, said carriers were working “every minute, every day” to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. “It is time to stop being defensive and start talking in a much more positive way,” he said.
Walsh accused the media of taking the side of environmental campaigners who say aviation is the fastest growing contributor to global warming and must be curbed: “If you tackle aviation, you solve climate change. It is a simple message that people have latched on to.”
He added: “Simple messages are much easier from a media point of view. There is a lack of understanding about the science behind climate change, where we need to do an awful lot of research still.”
This was rejected by Friends of the Earth’s transport campaigner, Richard Dye. “Science shows that aviation growth presents a serious threat to efforts to tackle climate change – and the media are quite right to expose this.”
(3 June 2008)
Jamaica to revive railroad industry
Associated Press via Forbes
Jamaica is reviving its railroad industry with help from China to offset rising fuel costs and provide a transportation alternative.
(1 June 2008)
Contributor Scott Chisholm Lamont writes:
If Jamaica can have the foresight to do this, why can’t Canada and the US?
