Quoting Geoff Dixon, the boss of Australia's Qantas, the media reports that not less than 100,000 aviation jobs will be axed in the near future, with the soaring fuel prices and the economic slump accelerating the consolidation of the airline industry on a massive scale. Pointing out to the present trends in the industry, Geoff Dixon has told that the current fuel crisis would bring about a 'seismic' shift that shall see the airline market dominated by a few huge and highly influential global airlines and niche carriers that have served individual markets in addition to sound flagship carriers from other countries. 

Stating what he calls as 'a new world order', Mr Dixon said, "Over time, consolidation will transform aviation. It will produce a few, very large and extremely efficient global airlines with a portfolio of interests and brands - like Air France and KLM. These players will have enormous power in marketing, in fuel buying and hedging, in aircraft purchasing, and in reach. There will still be niche airlines with specialist offerings - whether for business or leisure travellers - but these will need to be run very skillfully. And there will also remain those powerful, government-backed airlines, particularly from the oil rich states. These governments will continue to use aviation services as instruments of economic development."

Mr Dixon also said that he was highly positive about March's EU-US open skies agreement. He added saying that the whole of airline industry and the world at large are looking forward to the outcome of the second stage of talks regarding investment liberalization.