Travel Forum / Travel Types / Air Travel / December 2008

Probably not too soon. The airlines have mothballed planes and reduced
staffing to the point where the supply of seats is so much lower that
they're selling only to those that _really_ want to go and that are
willing to ante up.

I guess it's a win-win for everyone. The airlines can charge more for
seats, and we can decide not to save money and not pay what they're asking.

Maybe next year they will lower the prices......

---
http://www.moviesitearchive.com/travel

Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen. An article I read a
few months ago said that the major airlines need to make an average of
$700 per passenger per flight in order to just break even. Remember that
airlines have a lot of overhead besides just fuel.

 Heck, I just got dinged $700 in fuel surcharges on a ``free''
 (i.e., paid with frequent flier miles) BA ticket.  It seems that
 BA *raised* their fuel surcharges even after oil prices dropped
 by two thirds.

W;942389 Wrote:

try this on for size, it sure saved me. Now I save on gas and I a
making real good money. 2Rucker.Neverpayforfuel.co

--
Renfre

' oklahoma airport okc limo service
(http://limopricer.com/airport-limo/oklahoma/oklahoma-city-will-rogers-world-airp
ort.htm
)

Aside from the fact that there are some economic conditions that
affect most carriers equally, you'll find some routes don't change as
quickly as others due to a lack of competition. Add to that, the
industry is reducing its capacity, meaning that more planes are flying
at or near capacity, giving them relatively little reason to drop
fares.

The airline industry is so competitive, in many cases when they can,
they hold off on price increases as long as they can because when
downturns come, they hit hard given an airline's high, fixed costs.

 Airline tickets are sold pretty much on the basis of "what the
market
will bear".  Unfortunately for the airlines right now, those markets
won't "bear" what the marginal costs are.  It has put the airlines in
a
position of needing to treat most airline seats as "loss leaders",
which is to say they hope to sell you something else to make
up for the loss on the seat.  They have slashed capacity so as
to try to only serve the folks willing to pay the most.  Any reduction
in their costs due to fuel savings will merely translate into smaller
losses on the base ticket price.  The business model that had them
charging huge prices for "business travel" has died, probably never
to be born again.  "Supersaver" fares were never directly profitable
and now have little interest in that market segment at all.  None the
less, even with the higher prices, travel is vastly more affordable
than
it was in the late '60s and early '70s.