KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — The telltale signs of an industry in crisis were unavoidable at the biggest airline trade group's yearly gathering: Attendance down by more than a third. Lavish sit-down meal service replaced by buffet tables. No golf outings on the agenda.
A record number of reporters showed up for the two-day conference, many repeatedly asking executives which carrier would be next to go under or be acquired.
One of the highlights of the event: a panel on whether aviation could ever be economically sustainable. (The consensus: Maybe, but only after further painful consolidation.)
The 65th annual meeting of the International Air Transport Assn. kicked off Monday in what many airline executives described as the worst business environment they had ever seen. Last week's Air France crash only added to the gloom.
Since last year's conference in Istanbul, Turkey, 20 carriers have filed for bankruptcy protection or shut down after being pummeled first by high fuel costs and then by a recession-induced travel slump made worse by an outbreak of swine flu.
"We've never seen anything like this before," Jong Hee Lee, president of Korean Air Lines Co. and a 40-year veteran of the carrier, said of the travel slump that had hammered the industry. "Everybody is saying, 'Let's survive.' "
The association's 226 member airlines, including the largest U.S. carriers -- Delta, American and United -- account for about 93% of the world's international traffic. No event draws as many airline chief executives, estimated at 150 at this year's meeting.
In one of the conference's more depressing moments, the group's CEO announced Monday that the industry would lose $9 billion this year, more than double the forecast made just two months ago.
Revenue is projected to tumble 15% to $448 billion, a drop more than twice as big as the falloff in sales after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
And airline executives say there's little relief in sight.
"What makes this crisis different is the global nature of it," Air New Zealand Ltd. CEO Rob Fyfe said. "All regions of the world are being affected, and there is no place to hide."
A recovery may not begin until next year, he added.
"Whenever we find the floor of this is one thing," Fyfe said. "The question is how long we sit there before we begin to see any improvement."
