How the Airline Industry Expects to Bounce Back in 2023

The airline industry has been through quite a few challenges over the past few years.

Do you fly to Disney World?

If you’ve flown anytime between 2020 and 2022, you may have experienced delays, cancelations, high prices, and more, and we’ve talked about how the industry has been suffering from staffing issues and high jet fuel costs. Now experts are predicting a rebound for the airline industry in 2023, and here’s what they’re saying.

The airline industry may be able to return to profitability for the first time since 2019 next year. As reported by CNBC, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released a report in which they project that the airline industry will earn a net profit of $4.7 billion in 2023, predicting that over 4 billion passengers will fly throughout the year.

There could be a lot of travelers next year!

To put it in perspective, net profits were considerably higher in 2019, coming in at $26.4 billion. IATA Director General Willie Walsh said, “[There’s] still a long way to go to get back to where we were in 2019, but we are heading in the right direction.”

Orlando International Airport

Throughout the past few years, the airline industry has lost billions of dollars, with IATA forecasting a loss of $6.9 billion in June 2022. In 2020, the industry lost $137.7 billion, followed by a loss of $42 billion in 2021. Walsh said, “There will be challenges in 2023, but quite honestly, these challenges will be relatively small compared to what we’ve come through.”

Southwest Airlines

IATA has forecasted a total airline revenue of $779 billion in 2023, with North America leading the world with the highest profit, followed by Europe and the Middle East. Passenger demand is also expected to increase, with IATA predicting demand to reach 85.5% of 2019 levels in 2023.

Orlando International Airport crowds

When it comes to the chaos of 2022, from staffing issues, delays, cancelations, and more, Walsh is optimistic that the future of the airline industry is bright. He stated, “We should be confident that those issues have been resolved.”