AIG isn’t just the well-deserved whipping boy of the moment. It’s also a company that many travelers depend on, directly or indirectly — they just may not know it. So what are some of the ways AIG’s future affects travel?

Travel Insurance: Buyers
With AIG now 80% owned by the U.S. government (but seemingly not under its control), there’s pressure to spin off some of its businesses, such as their Travel Guard travel insurance subsidiary. For those who buy travel insurance, the current mess and the subsequent spinoff will likely have little effect. The federal government sure isn’t letting AIG renege on its policies, so your current policy is secure. Heck, you may even be better off with an AIG-issued policy now than ever before. How this would affect buyers after a spinoff is a question, but it’s still unlikely to harm the company’s viability or ability to make good on promised payments. They may not ceremoniously present you with a giant check, but the check is unlikely to bounce. Call it a wash.

Travel Insurance: Sellers
For those selling AIG’s travel insurance products, the spinoff is undoubtedly a good thing. Even before the spinoff, you’ll be hard-pressed to find references to AIG on their website today. The stigma of selling something with the AIG name would be gone, and travel agents (the primary sellers) will be able to simply point to the “Travel Guard” brand, which has a long operating history. Advantage: spinoff.

Airlines: Plane leases
More complicated: AIG also owns International Lease Finance Corp, the worlds largest plane lessor, and a huge customer of Airbus and Boeing. Major airlines often lease the plane through ILFC rather than buying the equipment outright, so finance trouble at ILFC could affect their clients. Much like a renter getting booted from his apartment because the landlord was foreclosed, airlines (and their passengers) could feel the brunt of any funding trouble at ILFC, which has relied on the nearly-closed short-term commercial paper credit markets to finance its operations.

And ILFC is admitting it’s in trouble. The subsidiary “said it may not survive unless it gets help from its parent company or new access to credit.” While help from the AIG mothership (read: the American taxpayer) is promised, who knows how things could look in a month or two.

This could also affect the supply of new planes in the skies. The leasing company has 168 planes worth $16.7 billion on order, and needs to find a way to actually pay for them.

For the time being, AIG’s implosion and subsequent rescue haven’t hurt travelers, but the firm’s downfall has added uncertainty to an already uncertain system. As if travelers needed one more thing to think about…

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