More doom and gloom from the airline industry today. Reuters reports that
Delta is declaring bankruptcy this afternoon and Northwest may follow shortly. Delta "
asked its pilots for a second round of wage and benefit cuts" in a last ditch attempt to control their mushrooming debt, and -- with a little good fortune -- they'll be offered bankruptcy protection by the courts. But the message is pretty sobering nonetheless. Scarcely a quarter goes by without a major airline entering Chapter 11.
Yesterday the International Herald Tribune reported that
Airlines' estimated losses for year rise to $7.4 billion.
That's cheery!
"
Oil is once again robbing the industry of a return to profitability," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association. But even though Delta and Northwest have been hit hard by the recent spike in jet fuel prices, The New York Times' Micheline Maynard notes that "even before that, the
airlines have spent 50 percent more this year on jet fuel than they spent a year ago."
Where from here? Time will tell, and I'll be holding my breath until I've returned from the next month's global wandering. But I'm getting ahead of myself. More on that in October!
