The latest setbacks to the return of air travel are stoking concern that a cash crunch is about to bear down on the airline industry, Bloomberg News reported. A second summer lost to the coronavirus crisis would likely trigger a spate of airline failures and bankruptcy filings, alongside a repeat of 2020’s bailouts, job cuts, and jetliner deferrals and cancellations, according consultants IBA Group. In just the past week, the optimism that took the Bloomberg World Airlines Index to the highest since the start of the pandemic has evaporated. TUI AG, the world’s biggest tour operator, scaled back its summer schedule to reflect a peak season that won’t start until July, at least two months later than normal. Ryanair Holdings Plc held a press briefing to reassure would-be holidaymakers they could change flights for free and exhorted them not to be “panicked” by negative headlines. “The ground is shifting from one day to the next,” IBA’s Stuart Hatcher said in an interview. Governments are aware that pushing back the reopening of travel will mean more pain for the aviation industry but have been spooked by resurgent infection rates even as vaccine rollouts continue, he said.
