World airlines cut profit forecast over trade turmoil

Yahoo

2 days ago

STORY: The world's airlines have cut their profit hopes for the year amid trade turmoil.
Industry body IATA now expects a collective profit of $36 billion for 2025.
That's $600 million down on the December forecast, made before Donald Trump returned to office.
Since then, he's launched a global trade war and tightened border controls.
That has fuelled economic uncertainty, causing many travellers to cancel or postpone trips.
Speaking at IATA's annual meeting in New Delhi over the weekend, boss Willie Walsh said the headline for profitability masked serious vulnerabilities:
'So, although our revenue forecast is down, our cost forecast is also down, and that leaves us with a net position which is broadly similar to what we had previously forecast at 36 billion U.S. dollars. Lovely figure, very big by any measure, but when you translate that into margin, it's a margin at 3.7 percent, and that remains a wafer-thin margin for the airline industry.'
Delays in the delivery of new jets are another problem for the industry.
Major jetmakers Boeing and Airbus have both been dogged by a variety of supply chain issues, with the European firm warning last month that delivery delays would last for another three years.
Such problems have forced carriers to keep operating older, less efficient planes.
They've also faced rising prices for the dwindling stock of available spare parts.
However, that has been offset by a drop in oil prices.
IATA predicted a 4.7% drop in cargo revenues for the year, with tariffs dampening trade and cutting global growth.