Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
It is in the U.S.; the psychotic changes to airport security cost money, and those costs and the privacy invasion have convinced a lot of people to stop flying--which has resulted in several airlines going bankrupt, and others running at less-than-capacity flights--which results in higher prices, and more decisions not to fly. We've got a nice vicious circle going, and no end in sight.
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While you're absolutely correct that flying is no longer simple, nor the process easy or convenient, unfortunately much of what you mentioned in the first paragraph is airline propganda. Looking at the actual load factors, for the past 2 years (even this last quarter), they've been at historical highs, MUCH higher than pre-911. The bankruptcies are caused not by people refusing to fly, but by incompetent management. The prices actually are below inflation-adjusted (and sometimes even non-adjusted) 9/11 levels, but should be increased to cover the cost of flying.
While it's true that there have been cutbacks in the number of passengers, the reductions in fleet sizes by the airlines has more than made up for that. All the cries of "overcapacity" when the airlines were bemoaning their situation were largely false. When was the last time you flew in a half-empty plane... or even had a seat next to you open?
Interestingly, the 4th quarter of 2008, passenger loads were up 1.2% year over year, even while the legacy carriers cried poverty and no passengers. The majority of their quarterly financial issue was unfortunate fuel hedging (which most hadn't done before) starting just as fuel prices dropped like a stone. Even Southwest, the king of the hedge, suffered from it.
Ironically, one of the few domestic airlines with a profit was Frontier, working hard to emerge from bankruptcy, and seemingly with a plan to do so sustainably.
On the international front, Lufthansa is growing wildly, in size, passenger loads and yields and profits.
As a travel agent, I can comfortably say people are still traveling, but the travel itself is changing. I specialize in cruises, and people are booking closer to sail date, and often departure ports closer to home. But the ships are still sailing within a couple points of capacity, for which I'm grateful.
And my heart hurts for those whose financial situations have been made more tenuous, and I hope they're not continuing to spend unwisely.
I now take you from the realm of travel myths and return you to the previously-scheduled Kindle myths
