2020 Is Year Airlines Would Rather Forget, as These Charts Show

Few sectors of the battered global economy have been hit as hard as the airline industry in 2020.

The coronavirus pandemic left fleets of planes grounded and caused air passenger traffic to slump as much as 94%. Cash-strapped carriers have been struggling to rebuild, hampered by further waves of infection and strict curbs on travel.

From crippling financial losses and painfully diminished market values to shrunken networks and mounting debt piles, the industry has been put through the wringer. “If there ever was an annus horribilis, this is it,” International Air Transport Association Director General Alexandre de Juniac said. “Nobody in aviation ...