What's Ahead For Airlines And Aviation In 2019
Jeremy BogaiskyForbes Staff
Deputy editor for Industry; eyes on the skies
December 26, 2018
Forbes' expert aviation contributors see change in the air next year. From airline M&A to advances in technologies that will change the passenger experience to a slowdown in the torrent of outbound Chinese travel, here are their predictions for 2019.
Samuel Engel, managing director of aviation at the consultancy ICF
THE BIG TREND: Declining profitability, at least for the U.S. carriers. As the economy slows, it will be hard for demand to keep up with rising capacity and costs.
WHAT TO WATCH: Amazon’s expansion into the aviation space. By the end of 2019, Amazon’s Prime logistics will have all the pieces of a major integrator, like UPS and FedEx (5th largest fleet in the world?): aircraft, distribution centers, last mile delivery, scalable IT platform and customer contact.