IATA Annual General Meeting & World Air Transport Summit begins in Boston

The International Air Transport Association holds the IATA Annual General Meeting & World Air Transport Summit. The 3-day event is organized by JetBlue Airways in Boston, USA.

It was originally scheduled for June 27 and 29, 2021, also in Boston but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We believe that it is vital to do everything possible to get together. Doing so affirms that airlines can connect the world safely, demonstrates the resilience of our industry and confirms the invaluable value of in-person meetings facilitated by aviation, ”said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA Director General and CEO.

Positive Figures
IATA today announced its latest outlook for airline industry financial performance showing better results amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis:
Net industry losses are expected to decline to $ 11.6 billion in 2022 after a loss of $ 51.8 billion in 2021 (worse from the loss of $ 47.7 billion estimated in April). Net loss estimates for 2020 have been revised to $ 137.7 billion (from $ 126.4 billion). Adding these up, total industry losses in 2020-2022 are expected to reach $ 201 billion.
Demand (measured in RPK) is expected to be at 40% of 2019 levels by 2021, and increase to 61% in 2022.
The total number of passengers is expected to reach 2.3 billion in 2021. This will increase to 3.4 billion in 2022, which is similar to 2014 levels and significantly below the 4.5 billion travelers in 2019.
The strong is expected. Air cargo demand continue 2021 demand at 7.9% above 2019 levels, growing at 13.2% above 2019 levels by 2022.

“The magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis for airlines is enormous. During the 2020-2022 period, total losses could exceed $ 200 billion. To survive, airlines have drastically cut costs and adapted their business to the opportunities available. That will bring the loss of $ 137.7 billion from 2020 down to $ 52 billion this year. And that will drop even further to $ 12 billion in 2022. We have far passed the deepest point of the crisis. While serious problems remain, the road to recovery looms. Aviation is proving its resilience once again, ”said Willie Walsh, IATA Director General.

The air cargo business is performing well and domestic travel will approach pre-crisis levels in 2022. The challenge is international markets, which remain severely depressed as government-imposed restrictions continue. 

“People have not lost the desire to travel, as we see in the strong resilience of the domestic market. But restrictions, uncertainty and complexity prevent them from traveling internationally. More governments see vaccines as a way out of this crisis. We fully agree that vaccinated people should not have their freedom of movement restricted in any way. In fact, the freedom to travel is a good incentive for more people to get vaccinated. Governments must work together and do everything in their power to ensure that vaccines are available to anyone who wants them, ”Walsh said.

The restoration of global connectivity, the 11.3 million jobs (before COVID-19) in the aviation industry, and the $ 3.5 trillion of GDP associated with travel and tourism should be priorities for the governments.

“Aviation is resilient and resourceful, but the scale of this crisis requires solutions that only governments can provide. Financial support was a lifeline for many airlines during the crisis. Much of that - roughly $ 110 billion - is in the form of support that must be repaid. Combined with commercial borrowing, the industry is now highly leveraged. We don't want handouts, but some airlines may need salary support measures to retain critical skills until governments allow large-scale international travel. And regulatory attenuations, such as continued slot machine vacillations as international traffic recovers, will be needed well into 2022, "said Walsh.