Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

The International Air Transportation Association (IATA) issued a rather stunning projection today that the world’s airlines will actually turn a profit this year of $2.5 billion. The forecast comes not three months after IATA <a href="?q=node/24235">projected a loss of $2.8 billion</a>.
The group predicts that industry revenues will total $545 billion in 2010, compared with $483 billion last year, but still below the $564 billion achieved in 2008. “The global economy is recovering from the depths of the financial crisis much more quickly than could have been anticipated,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA director general and CEO. “Airlines are benefiting from a strong traffic rebound that is pushing the industry into the black. We thought that it would take at least three years to recover the $81 billion (14.3 percent) drop in revenues in 2009. But the $62 billion top line improvement this year puts us about 75 percent on the way to pre-crisis levels.”
Although clearly encouraged by the seemingly sudden turnaround, Bisignani issued some “important health warnings” along with the profit projection. “First, [$2.5 billion] represents a net margin of just 0.5 percent, which is a long way from sustainable profitability,” he said. “Second, a major part of the global industry is still posting big losses. A stagnating economy, strikes, natural disasters and a currency crisis have left European carriers struggling with an anticipated $2.8 billion loss.”
The revised figures include a forecast growth of 7.1 percent in passenger traffic and an 18.5-percent increase in cargo traffic. IATA now projects yields to grow by 4.5 percent for both the cargo and passenger business, compared with the previously forecast yield growth of 2 percent in passenger markets and 3.1 percent for cargo. The 4.5 percent yield growth just beats the rate of consumer price inflation, contributing strongly to the 13-percent rise in revenues forecast for 2010. Despite the increase, revenues remain 4 percent below their 2008 peak.

IATA: World’s Airlines Returning to Profitability

The International Air Transportation Association (IATA) issued a rather stunning projection today that the world’s airlines will actually turn a profit thi

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN