But they find little else to celebrate

At its annual meeting in Istanbul, the International Air Transport Association, an organization of the world’s airlines, celebrated the end of the paper ticket – as of this month, the organization no longer supplies travel agencies with the documents, since all its members have switched over to e-ticketing. But that was apparently the only positive note at a conference that had a huge cloud hanging over it. IATA forecasters told the meeting that instead of a profit of $4.5 billion this year, as they had predicted earlier, the world’s airline industry is now looking at a collective loss of $2.3 billion – and that’s based on an average oil price of $107 a barrel. If the price stays above $130, as it is now, airlines could be looking at total red ink of more than $6 billion in 2008. Last year, the industry had a collective profit of $5.6 billion, its first since 2000. IATA CEO Giovanni Bisignani called the situation “desperate,” and said that airlines simply can’t reduce costs much more than they already have: “There is no fat left,” he remarked. Other speakers predicted that the industry will see more bankruptcies in the months ahead, and criticized governments for overburdening the airlines with taxation and environmental regulations.