Economic Indicators Paper
Introduction
Past events have required the airlines to reevaluate the decisions that are being made in order to optimize profits and to put the feeling of safety back into the customers. By reviewing six indicators, airlines are able to better perform and see where the future of the airlines will go depending on the decisions that are being made. Some of these indicators include Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the unemployment rate, inflation rates, interest rates, personal income and money supply. All of these factors and more can be a determinant in the future of an airline.
Gross Domestic Product
In the reevaluation process, the airlines should take GDP into consideration. When measuring successes and weaknesses of the airlines, GDP is a very important factor. GDP is the gross measurement of total goods and services produced within the domestic United States. After the tragedies in 2001, GDP for the U.S. decreased considerably. The airlines especially were hit hard. Qatar airlines for example, had a growth of GDP that was averaging 14.7% over the past five years before 2002. By 2002, Qatar had a GDP of .8%, which is a considerable different from the previous years. Fortunately for Qatar final GDP data for 2003 showed an anticipated increase of 10.5%. (http://www.qatarembassy.net/gdp.asp) This is not only indicative of Qatar but for all airlines that felt a knee buckling jerk in their GDP. The following outline shows the changes that the air industry can also be affected by up to the present time:
Other highlights of the release include:
? Direct tourism-related sales increased 5.6 percent, $7.4 billion at an annual rate, in the second quarter of 2004.
? Over o ...