'09 Airline Losses Likely Worse Than Post-9/11

World airlines will lose $4.7 billion this year, and revenues will plummet $62 billion—worse than after 9/11, a top industry association said. The grim estimate is almost twice what it was in December and reflects “the rapid deterioration of the global economic conditions,” said the International Air Transport Association. But things look better in North America, the AP reports.

North American carriers are expected to pull in a combined $100 million profit, with “a 7.5% fall in demand matched by a 7.5% cut in capacity,” the group said. Worldwide, “demand has deteriorated much more rapidly with the economic slowdown than could have been anticipated even a few months ago,” the group noted. “Resizing the industry will be much tougher than the adjustments we saw after 9/11 or SARS.”