Threat of another summer lost to Covid-19 stirs cash-crunch fears for airlines

The latest setbacks to the return of air travel are stoking concern that a cash crunch is about to bear down on the airline industry.

A second summer lost to the coronavirus crisis would likely trigger a spate of airline failures and bankruptcy filings, alongside a repeat of 2020’s bailouts, job cuts, and jetliner deferrals and cancellations, according consultants IBA Group.

In just the past week, the optimism that took the Bloomberg World Airlines Index to the highest since the start of the pandemic has evaporated.