Air Cargo Traffic Continues to Slide

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports that air freight volume fell by 4.7% in October, compared with the same month a year ago. Passenger traffic increased by 3.6% in the same period.

Part of the reason for the drop, according to IATA, is a drop in business confidence. Another part of the reason is that shippers switch to slower, cheaper modes of transportation when times are bad. That could partially account for recent increases in US rail traffic.

Carriers have responded by reducing the size of their fleets, but that has not stopped the decline in cargo traffic, which is down about 5% from mid-2011 levels.

Paul Ausick