Archive for September 2008
A nosedive in the West
What a turning point the Summer of 2008 has been for the aerospace sector, and in particular the airline industry. High fuel prices have wreaked havoc with airline cash-flow and reserves, and a booming industry has suddenly found itself in a downward spiral again as the credit crunch pushes the US and Europe into recession. At July’s Farnborough air show everyone was putting on a brave face, talking the talk while hoping they’d come back from summer breaks and everything would be OK again. For this Blogger a very busy time has left no time for blogging but even aerospace journalists are struggling to find work now, such are the pressures on advertising budgets of the publishers. Seven years since 9/11 the world is no more certain in its direction, although luckily it seems that a U.S. economic downturn does not mean the same for the rest of the world – with China and India, and the Middle East, in booms all of their own.
