What Now for the Airlines?
 

What Now for the Airlines?

November 12 may become a day that lives in infamy for an already toubled industry

The crash of American Airlines flight 587 on Monday, regardless of its cause, couldn’t have come at a worse time for the airline industry. Just as airline passenger traffic and consumer confidence were starting to rebound after Sept. 11 in advance of the busy Thanksgiving holiday, this latest tragedy raises anew questions in many travelers’ minds about the safety of flying. Airlines, still reeling from devastating financial impact of the attacks two months ago, must now contemplate an immediate future with another sharp drop of revenue as passengers cancel their travel plans. After all, the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas travel seasons are typically the saving grace of the fourth quarter, generally the second weakest period of the year. “This is almost certain to increase the financial pressure on the airlines,” says Daniel Kasper, an aviation consultant with LECG in Cambridge, Mass.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/656650.asp