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The International Air Transport Association forecast global airline profit of $18 billion for 2014. "That sounds impressive," said Tony Tyler, CEO of IATA. "But the brutal economic reality is that on revenues of $746 billion we will earn an average net margin of just 2.4%. That's less than $6 per passenger." Brian Pearce, chief economist for IATA, also said fuel costs take a large bite out of operational costs. "Airlines have been living through the most persistently high period of fuel prices that they've ever seen," said Pearce. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model)