While the overall economy shows signs of slowly coming back to life, the airline industry continues to struggle. Over the past year, the combination of substantially lower passenger traffic, still-wobbly financial markets and nervous carriers has curtailed the revenue streams airports typically count on for major capital projects.
The International Air Transport Association predicts airlines’ worldwide losses in 2009 will total $11 billion, while the Airport Transportation Association of America forecasts a nearly 7% capacity cut by the six largest U.S. carriers, the deepest such reduction in more than 60 years.