Airline Workers See Raises Amid Doubt Gains Will Last
- Skeptics warn oil spike, recession could undo gains since 2011
- Executives say industry is more durable, resistant to shocks
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U.S. airlines are posting record profits, awarding hefty pay raises and winning over longtime skeptics like Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The missing ingredient: proof that the industry can weather a downturn.
Previous airline booms were followed by busts that eventually forced all the biggest full-service airlines into bankruptcy. The difference this time is an eight-year era of mergers that stabilized the industry by shrinking the number of major carriers to four from nine. Adding to that is a profit-boosting, 56 percent drop in the price of jet fuel since early 2014.