5 takeaways from airline CEOs' biggest annual gathering

Ground crews load cargo and supplies onto airplanes from airlines including Lufthansa Group, Emirates, Austrian Airlines, and British Airways, as they stand parked at the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in El Segundo, California, on September 11, 2023. Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images RIO DE JANEIRO — Hundreds of airline leaders gathered in Brazil this week at the International Air Transport Association's annual assembly to discuss high fuel costs, sharply lower profits, engine reliability issues and elusive emission reduction goals, among other things. Toward the end of the assembly in Rio de Janeiro, news broke that Iran and Israel traded strikes for the first time since a ceasefire went into effect in April. For airline executives who have faced ongoing turmoil since the first U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, it seemed like just one more blip in the whipsawing chaos of 2026. Those airline leaders' stance so far has been to wait and see. Here are some takeaways from the gathering: Withering profits Fuel costs have more than doubled in some places since the beginning of the Iran war, as the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane, has been effectively closed for much of the time. IATA said airlines globally are absorbing a $100 billion increase in their fuel costs this year, which along with airspace closures due to Middle East attacks curtailing travel, will likely halve airline profits this year. …