Forecasting Summer Travel
Trade group predicts slight dip in travelers, increase in preparation.
May 13, 2008 — -- They've got game rooms, rocking chairs, art displays and free Wi-Fi.
Whether you're delayed, stranded overnight or passing through as planned, the air travel industry said today that it's ready for the summer travel season.
The bad news is you might need the extra amenities. The airline trade industry can't promise that last summer's horrendous on-time record will improve much, it can't do anything about summer storms and travel is likely to be more expensive.
"I think we're going to face a challenging summer this year," said James C. May, president and CEO of the airline trade group Air Transport Association.
Today, the air travel industry predicted that fewer passengers will travel through the nation's airports this summer than in the summer of 2007. The culprit is record-high jet fuel prices that continue to cripple the airline industry, forcing carriers to cut flights and jack up ticket prices to survive.
Still, more than 211.5 million summer travelers are expected to pass through the airports between Memorial Day and Labor Day, according to an outlook report released this morning by the air travel industry. That's about a 1 percent decrease from the 214.2 million travelers airports welcomed last summer.
Despite the slight reduction in the number of passengers, planes are expected to be 85 percent full.
Indeed, summer is notoriously the busiest travel time of the year, but there's no doubt the airlines are coming off a rough spring. With jet fuel approaching $170 per barrel, airlines are left struggling to remain financially sound, and as a result, have resorted to charging extra for services that used to be part of your ticket price.
Many people have already suggested that the summer of 2008 will be the summer of the train.
Still, the industry is confident it will continue attracting nearly all of its customers and vows to do a better job this summer than last. The summer of 2007 was marred by excessive delays, baggage losses and stranded passengers. On Tuesday, the industry said each carrier now has a system in place to ensure passengers aren't stuck on runways for hours on end without food and water.
May predicted the industry could spend as much as $60 billion on jet fuel this year and said delays will cost about $10 billion this year as planes sit on the tarmac burning jet fuel. He said the industry is most challenged by New York, where 48 percent of all the delay minutes originate.
