Even though American Airlines declared bankruptcy earlier this week, airlines overall are actually doing “quite well,” according to the October-November Airlines Financial Monitor produced by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). At least for the moment they are.

Of course, you wouldn’t know it looking at airline stock prices, which are down 40 percent so far this year, according to the Bloomberg global index. But in the third quarter, airlines did “quite well,” IATA said, with a sample of 60 carriers reporting net profits of $5 billion, though profits are down by 20 percent on the EBIT level. In Europe, which is mired in an economic morass, third quarter profits declined by a mere 5 percent.

On the other hand, IATA is quick to point out that these favorable numbers in the new report reflect the past and not the future, which according to IATA is still somewhat grim. Jet fuel prices were back up above $130 billion, despite economic gloom, as the supply squeeze persists. Air freight has declined 5 percent as businesses look for cheaper kinds of transport because they believe a recession is imminent -- and IATA considers freight a leading economic indicator.

Nevertheless, passenger traffic has yet to show any slump. Oddly enough, the strongest travel markets are in Europe, but considering what’s going on there, that’s not a firm foundation for future growth. Overall, however, third-quarter passenger load factors were still close to all-time highs, according to IATA. Air travel continues to grow while airlines are managing capacity carefully -- and that keeps planes full, leading to high load factors and actual profits.