Our Bureau The global airline industry is expected to post a loss of $39 billion during the second quarter, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Tuesday.

A recovery for the global airline industry to pre-2019 levels is unlikely before the fourth quarter of this year or till 2021, said Brian Pearce, IATA’s Chief Economist.

Addressing a global media teleconference, he said that the cash burn during the second quarter in the global airline industry is likely to be around $61 billion. The global airline industry is also looking at around $35 billion in ticket refund for flights that have been cancelled of which $10 billion is estimated to be in Europe alone, he added.

Many airlines have been forced to cancel flights as a result of weak demand and governments closing down their borders.

“These numbers are beyond what has ever been seen in the industry,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Chief Executive Officer and Director-General, IATA.

The packages announced by various government should help the industry, said de Juniac. Many countries including the US have announced packages including for their airline industry.

IATA said it has proposed that airlines provide travel vouchers instead of refunding tickets to passengers whose flights have either been cancelled or some journey remains incomplete, the DG said.

In response to a question on job losses due to the Corona crisis hitting the global airline industry, Pearce said it will be difficulty to quantify a number just yet. At the moment the global airline industry employees 2.7 million people and supports 65 million jobs.