QANTAS CEO - Aviation Faces "Not Blip Or Shock, Not Even A Crisis, But Permanent Transformation"

[hatrack]

Aviation is a fascinating industry, but it is also a challenging one. For almost 90 years QANTAS has developed a cultural strength that enables us to cope well with crises. We have shown great resilience through numerous major shocks over the past decade alone.

But right now the global aviation industry faces, not a shock or a blip - not even a crisis - but a permanent transformation. The drivers of this transformation will be globalisation, accelerated by permanently high fuel prices. And the result will be a new aviation world order.

... Oil, of course, is a finite natural resource and whether or not the world has reached "peak oil" is a matter of debate. But there is no question that the cost of finding and extracting oil will continue to climb. Today’s fuel prices also derive from a long period of sustained global economic growth, notably in China, India and the Middle East. And this, of course, is the result of globalisation. Everyone in this room today is feeling the impact of high fuel prices. And while we welcome last week’s sudden drop in prices, there is no guarantee that this trend will last.

Right now airlines around the world are cutting routes and capacity, grounding and retiring aircraft, and shedding staff - it is likely that 100,000 jobs worldwide will be lost before this calendar year is out. In the past six months alone 24 airlines have closed down completely. The major US carriers are now planning to ground 465 aircraft - that is more than twice the size of the QANTAS fleet.

EDIT

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/45996



EDIT

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/45996