Blue Skies Ahead?

As hard as we try to see signs of a robust economic recovery on the horizon, the news stubbornly continues to be mixed. United Air Lines announced last week that its emergence from bankruptcy protection will likely be delayed until next year at the soonest, instead of later this year as it had hoped. But on the upside, Delta Air Lines announced last week it will recall 250 pilots furloughed in April. Delta will lay off 700 flight attendants this week, but that’s not as bad as the 1,050 layoffs originally planned. Airbus and Boeing say they are seeing a renewal of interest from Asian airlines as they put the SARS crisis behind them. Some orders that were put on hold have been reinstated. Does it all add up to better times ahead? We’ll have to wait and see.