The aviation crisis: time to tear up the old rules

The high price of oil is changing everything – for airlines and for their passengers. In 2002, a barrel of oil was US$25. And the total industry fuel bill was $40 billion. In that same year, the world’s airlines lost $11.3 billion.

To recover, enormous changes followed. Fuel efficiency improved 19%. Sales and marketing unit costs plunged 25%. Non-fuel unit costs dropped 18%. And airlines rolled out e-ticketing to every corner of the planet.