US airlines are again being tested. This time by a foiled terror plot that is sure to make passengers uneasy about flying. The financial toll on the carriers and whether they will have to scrap their higher ticket price strategy depends on how long the threat lasts, analysts and industry consultants said yesterday.
But, they pointed out, the airlines have been able to weather such upheaval be-fore. “Just when they’ve gotten up and are walking, something like this knocks them down again,” said Terry Trippler, an industry expert in Minneapolis. “It’s going to be difficult the next 48 to 72 hours, but it will settle down. It always does.”
Advanced bookings in the US have been strong and some airlines began offering fare sales this week to help keep seats filled during the traditionally slow early fall season. That should help the airlines withstand a big financial impact from the terror threat, experts said.
“This industry, which is still trying to recover, doesn’t need the effects that we might have here,” said David Treitel, chief executive of aviation consulting firm SH&E in New York.
That said, Treitel noted this isn’t the first time the industry has had to deal with terror threats or actual attacks.
“The strength and resiliency of the business is I think going to manage this situation very effectively so that we won’t have much more than the added inconvenience through the next few days,” he said.
The plot involved liquid explosives and targeted flights from Britain to the US, officials said. US authorities heightened security at airports across the country and raised the threat level to “red” for flights from Britain, the first time the highest threat of terrorist attack had been invoked since the system was created. All other flights were under an “orange” alert οΎ— one step below red.
Shares of some major airlines sank, meanwhile, and passengers fretted in long lines at security gates at airports. American Airlines parent AMR Corp.’s stock closed unchanged at $20.29, after having fallen earlier.
The Nassau Guardian
