WASHINGTON, May 19 (UPI) -- Chances for the U.S. airline industry to post a profit are being destroyed by skyrocketing fuel costs, the head of the Air Transport Association said.
The ATA, an industry trade group, Wednesday called on the government to halt deliveries of crude oil to the nearly full Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help lower jet fuel prices. The 660-million-barrel federal petroleum reserve is about 95 percent full.
"Despite some encouraging estimates that traffic levels are likely to return to pre-9/11 levels this summer, sustained high fuel prices have all but wiped out any chance of a profitable year for the industry as a whole," said ATA president and CEO James C. May.
May said every $1 increase in the price of oil costs the airline industry an additional $425 million for fuel.
President George Bush says the two-month petroleum reserve is not be used except for national emergencies like the war on terror.
