US airline catastrophe looms under record oil prices: study

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US airline industry is heading for a crash as record oil prices threaten to push several carriers into bankruptcy, threatening “our American way of life,” an industry study said Friday.

“As a consequence of the skyrocketing price of oil, the US commercial aviation industry is in full-blown crisis and heading toward a catastrophe,” said a study issued by AirlineForecasts and the Business Travel Coalition.


The study found that with oil prices in the 135 dollar range, the airline industry “could be forced to park upwards of 1,000 aircraft and shed over 80,000 employees, and still not return to health.

“The consequences will be devastating to US jobs, families, businesses, communities and our American way of life.”

AFP