Uno de los sectores más golpeados por la pandemia es la industria aérea; la cancelación de rutas de muy buena parte de las aerolíneas y restricciones de los países para recibir turistas de algunas nacionalidades ha ocasionado que tengamos el mismo nivel de vuelos de los años 80 y según información oficial de IATA demorará entre 4 y 5 años retomar el nivel de vuelos y volumen de pasajeros pre-pandemia.  

An important aspect to this matter is the fact that almost 50% of the loading capacity worldwide is offered in the aircraft hold of passenger planes, a situation that we often forget. And because of this particularity, the flight suspension generated, at least initially, a strong hit to the service offerings.  

As a response to the situation, some airlines are converting their passenger jets to cargo planes, and others have developed Combi aircrafts (partially removing a significant part of the seats so that the space can be used for cargo). With this being so, the airlines that have cargo shipping as an important part of their service portfolio have accomplished to have a better chance of sustainability. And by this way, the ‘cargo matter’ had never been as important for these companies as it is now. 

At the same time, this concerns the Low-Cost airlines that don’t contemplate cargo shipping as a matter of interest, therefore it is very likely that many of them will either have to adapt quickly by modifying their business models, or they will disappear. Finally, it is more than necessary to express the complexity of this problem for Latin American airlines, which are strategic to the region and must receive support from the government at this critical moment. 

Regarding the ocean industry, we could say that all stars aligned and the shipping companies clearly benefited from the pandemic. Even though they suffered a few years ago some fusions, consolidations and bankruptcies because of the freight war, we can now say, that never before has this industry had numbers as good as it has now. Unbelieving at the end of 2020, we were able to verify that a 40 feet container paid off a total of $10,000 from China to America and Europe, plus the general container shortage worldwide due to cancelations (‘blank sailing’), situations that both combined made freight increase in a sustained and dramatic way.

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