Bad and worse – IATA’s two-case scenario for 2012

IATA has unusually provided two forecast scenarios for 2012 - a 'central forecast' and 'banking crisis' forecast - or perhaps more accurately, the 'bad' and 'worse' forecasts. Both show that global airline profitability is expected to be sharply lower than previously forecast. IATA is downgrading its 'best case' 2012 profit by 29% from USD4.9 billion, as forecast in Sep-2011, to USD3.5 billion for a net profit margin of just 0.6%, down from the previous forecast of 1.2%. The USD1.4 billion downgrade, which highlights the continued profitability challenge facing the world's airline industry, will see global airlines report at best a 49% year-on-year reduction in net profitability from forecast profit levels of USD6.9 billion in 2011.

The reduction reflects the risk of recession in Europe and slower global economic growth, with IATA warning the industry could face a loss of USD8.3 billion if the euro zone crisis becomes a full-blown banking crisis. This 'banking crisis' forecast foresees every region having a net loss in 2012 while the 'central forecast' sees only Europe and Africa reporting net losses in the year. Meanwhile, the profitability forecast for 2011 remains unchanged, at USD6.9 billion for a weak net margin of 1.2%.