Things Slowly Looking Up for Ailing Airline Industry, Economist Says.

Byline: Marilyn Geewax

Oct. 11--WASHINGTON--Airline traffic has bounced back more quickly than expected after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a top industry economist said Wednesday.

Passengers are returning "at a faster pace than we had anticipated, and that gives us some hope," David Swierenga, chief economist for the Air Transport Association, said at a conference sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Swierenga said airlines had expected passenger loads to still be running 40 percent below normal levels for October.

Instead, traffic is off by about 25 percent, he said.

The combination of a cyclical downturn and the …