ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews many of the problems and issues for air cargo operators from the depths of the recession. Those that are strongly related to profitability receive the most attention: yields, overcapacity and fuel costs. Others such as over-regulation are also in evidence, followed closely by productivity and efficiency. Air cargo yields and capacity are closely linked, and when international trade and air cargo is in decline yields fall. This is because capacity is never reduced in line with the decrease in traffic, and indeed just under half the capacity is linked to passenger flights, which may not be subject to the same pressures. Air cargo often turns down one or two months before an economic recession affects air travel and thus, if passenger capacity is removed, it is often a few months after cargo. Freighter capacity can easily be removed by grounding or storing freighter aircraft. Again there may be some months delay before this occurs.
