The Airline Weekly Halftime Show: A region-by-region look at developments that shaped the first six months of 2018

Reflecting on the first six months of 2018, two words quickly come to mind: “strong,” which describes the revenue environment, and “rising,” which describes the cost trajectory. Airlines around the world—and their suppliers too—spoke glowingly of strong traffic growth, strong premium demand, strong tourism, strong cargo trends and so on. Less happily, oil, labor, aircraft and U.S. dollar markets were likewise strong, offsetting—and in some cases completely neutralizing—the revenue momentum. In general, though, the global airline business is producing healthy profits, with the global economy still growing nicely and energy prices yet to reach levels of true distress. But concerns increased as the half progressed: How much more might oil prices rise? How much damage might stem from rising interest rates? Is the U.S. overstimulating its economy with boomtime federal tax cuts and spending hikes? Are falling Chinese stock prices and currency values a sign of trouble? Might a trade war dismantle the international economy?