The biggest danger facing the global airline industry is not the effects of terrorism, war, SARS and economic downturn. It is that these blows, which have helped ground three national flag carriers and force two American airlines into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will divert attention from the inherent weaknesses of aviation, which they have worsened. As in the crisis that attended the first Gulf war, many airlines hope that traffic will soon bounce back, and a few terrible years will be followed by fuller planes, happier passengers and a return to profitability. Yet the industry's problems are deeper—and older—than the pain of the past two years implies.
As the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight approaches in December, the industry it launched is still remarkably primitive. The car industry, created not long after the Wright Brothers made history, is now a global industry dominated by a dozen firms, at least half of which make good profits. Yet commercial aviation consists of 267 international carriers and another 500-plus domestic ones. The world's biggest carrier, American Airlines, has barely 7% of the global market, whereas the world's biggest carmaker, General Motors, has (with its associated firms) about a quarter of the world's automobile market.
Aviation has been incompletely deregulated, and in only two markets: America and Europe. Everywhere else deals between governments direction who flies under what roles. These aim to preserve state-owned national flag-carriers, run for prestige rather than profit. And numerous restrictions on foreign ownership make cross-border airline mergers impossible.
In America, the big network carriers face barriers to exit, which have kept their route networks too large. Trade unions resisting job cuts and Congressmen opposing route closures in their territory conspire to block change. In Europe, liberalization is limited by bilateral deals that prevent, for instance, British Airways (BA) flying to America from Frankfurt or Pads, or Lufthansa offering transatlantic flights from London's Heathrow. To use the car industry analogy, it is as if only Renaults were allowed to drive on French motorways.
In airlines, the optimists are those who think that things are now so bad that the industry has no option but to evolve. Frederick Reid, president of Delta Airlines, said earlier this year that events since the 911 attacks are the equivalent of a meteor strike, changing the climate, creating a sort of nuclear winter and leading to a "compressed evolutionary cycle". So how, looking on the bright side, might the industry look after five years of accelerated development？
According to the author, the deeper problems of aviation industry ______.
A．are the effects of various disasters
B．are actually not fully recognized
C．are attracting a lot of attention
D．are not the real cause of airlines' bankruptcy
