The aviation industry as a whole has been one of the most profitable yet extremely volatile industries in the world during the last fifty years. It is an industry sensitive to external influences such as variations in world markets of the slightest kind, war and of course you guessed it, a global pandemic as well. This shows how important and strongly linked the air transport industry is to the global economy. 

The pandemic affected the aviation industry really badly. Just to put things into perspective, here are some stats for you to consider. For the duration of the year 2020 alone, there was an estimated fifty percent reduction in passengers compared to pre-pandemic levels which resulted in a worldwide decrease of close to 3 billion customers, leading to losses exceeding USD 370 billion. Given the introduction of vaccines and countries scrambling for health equipment, the increase in global air cargo helped to soften the blow quite a bit in the following year. In the year 2021, the number of passengers flown improved by just only 10 percent compared to the previous year and the losses faced by airlines worldwide amounted to approximately 320 billion USD.

For me personally, when the pandemic started, which would have been around February, no one around me took it seriously. I was at the airport working directly with oncoming flights and passengers, also known as “Line” in aviation lingo, conducting routine checks like it was any other normal day, and all I was advised to do was to just wear my mask, and that was about it. I literally saw a passenger puking just before boarding a flight, and no one really paid much attention to them. It wasn’t until the beginning of April did I really begin to see the effects of the virus beginning to spread and consequently lead to the imposing of lockdowns all around the world.

I couldn’t attend work due to the airport being classified as a high-risk area and thus, had to wait close to 9 months at home until I got the green light to get back to work. To this day, work is slow. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, nothing has returned to normal, and I see this effect daily. There are many aircrafts grounded, currently in long-term storage and continue to be in that state due to the unavailability of passenger demand like before.

Not only were airlines affected by the pandemic, but airports were too. Airlines and airports go hand in hand in terms of revenue and profitability. Moreover, other industries linked either directly or indirectly to the aviation industry were affected heavily too, such as car rental services, hotels, restaurants and tourist destinations, just to name a few.

However, the opportunistic airliners persevered during these tumultuous times, while others were not so lucky and had to default. The lucky ones were those who restructured and took the opportunity of the increased demand for cargo operations, ramping up their services in that sector. Some even went as far as to convert their passenger aircrafts to cargo aircrafts, which is where they remove all the seats in the cabin compartments and use the cabin areas to carry heavy cargo, in addition to what they carry in the cargo compartments located in the belly of the aircraft. While cargo operations have been the lifeline for the industry during the pandemic, the overall figures too show a slight decrease in the quantity of operations during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels. For the year 2020, of the airlines that made profits, cargo revenue accounted for almost 50 percent of it. Folks in the industry have gone as far as to say that if it wasn’t for cargo services, we’d be seeing more bankrupt airlines today than the handful that defaulted!

The effects of the pandemic continue to ripple through the aviation industry to this date. According to experts, the above-mentioned losses for commercial airliners and the additional expenses of aircraft storage for the duration of the pandemic means the road to recovery could take up to five years’ worth of operations. Some say even more. Yet, we remain hopeful that there are lessons that could be learnt and certain steps are being taken that will help airlines thrive in the foreseeable future.