COVID-19: A bolt from the blue
The unexpected COVID-19 outbreak has not only led to severe loss of lives around the world but caused major losses to crucial sectors, including aerospace. It would need considerable efforts and time for the industry to survive and recover.
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fter the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global aviation industry is facing the worst crisis since the Wright Brothers invented the aircraft. With a majority of the commercial aircraft grounded, the industry is staring at an unprecedented situation. The revenue of airlines has plummeted and staff are sitting idle, along with taking pay cuts. The future itself poses mighty challenges to the sector. After COVID-19 was reported in China, it was the
airlines sector in Asia-Pacific that initially bore the brunt of the pandemic. “It’s an unprecedented crisis that has led to almost a stop in air traffic. It’s happened before, probably only in wartime, when we have seen something similar. That was a long time ago,” said International Air Transport Association (IATA) director general Alexandre de Juniac. The global aviation landscape is being changed, probably forever, by the COVID-19 pandemic. “For airlines, it’s apocalypse
now,” said de Juniac on the financial crisis confronting the association’s 290 member airlines. With 260 of its member carriers on the financial brink or losing money before COVID-19 was reported, and with more than 80 per cent of commercial passenger services grounded afterwards, the prospects for the world’s airlines could be catastrophic. During the first three months of the crisis, the losses were US Dollars 252 billion. IATA does not expect airlines to return to their
