“Money burns like fuel”: who will survive in the aviation market, who will not

The pandemic, with lockdowns and travel bans, has hit even the biggest airlines. Revenue per passenger-kilometre (an industry-wide measure of performance) fell 66% in 2020 compared to 2019.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects revenues to remain 57% below pre-pandemic levels this year. While airlines have almost recovered from the $200 billion in cumulative exchange losses caused by covid-19 , analysts believe the industry will not bounce back until 2024 at the earliest. In 2020, the total losses of the industry reached $126 billion, and in 2021 they could reach $48 billion.

Airline money is now burning faster than the jet fuel in their planes. Not surprisingly, many major players survived only thanks to government assistance.