More bad news for Boeing, Airbus: Jan. air traffic drops again

Published 9:49 am Thursday, February 26, 2009

The International Air Transport Association posted January air traffic numbers today.

International passenger travel was down 5.6 percent compared to January 2008. That’s even worse than the 4.6 percent decline recorded in December.

The cargo market posted even worse numbers: down 23.2 percent over the previous January. Cargo had been down 22.6 percent in December.

“Alarm bells are ringing everywhere. Every region’s carriers are reporting big drops in cargo. And, aside from the Middle East carriers, passenger demand is falling in all regions. The industry is in a global crisis and we have not yet seen the bottom,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

These numbers help explain why, eight weeks into 2009, Boeing still remains in the negative in terms of jet orders. Airbus also was negative at the end of January.

Boeing also announced today that it has abandoned plans to build cargo planes for the U.S. Air Force and Army with Alenia North America, as reported by Reuters.

( polls)