Airlines are going to reduce seats by 600K for holiday travel..

[lib2DaBone]

Also, airlines are going to raise tickets by $40 during holidays.

Get your tickets early.. and expect to be cramed-in like cattle.

One alternative is to travel by AMTRAK and/or Bus.. (for travel less than 600 miles)

-----------------------

Slowing Economy
U.S. economic expansion for 2011’s second half may be slower than analysts anticipated after growth in gross domestic product through June trailed forecasts, suggesting that “we are in for a business travel slowdown this fall,” Deutsche Bank AG’s Michael Linenberg in New York said in a report today.

Crack Spread
The pinch on airlines is worse when measured by the so- called crack spread between crude and heating oil. Many carriers use heating-oil futures to hedge their purchases of jet fuel, which doesn’t trade on the Nymex. The spread reached $37.45 a barrel on Aug. 10, the highest in 25 years of data compiled by Bloomberg, and has more than doubled this year

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-15/airlines-risk-deeper-seat-cuts-amid-u-s-wealth-destruction-.html

[pinto]

1. I don't see either the 600K seat reduction or the $40 ticket increase mentioned in the article.

I see this mentioned -

“At some point, as companies look at a weak economy and weak consumer spending, they may pull back” on travel, said Philip Baggaley, an S&P debt analyst in New York. “It will be more difficult for the airlines to continue to raise prices.”

That shifts airlines’ focus to chopping expenses. They can save money with steps such as reducing flight frequencies, dropping some routes and substituting smaller planes for larger aircraft. All those moves reduce available seating capacity, measured by the number of seats flown a mile.

- but no hard data on the effects on available capacities or pricing. :shrug:

[Art_from_Ark]

2. I've been looking into trans-Pacific holiday fares

and sometimes, the surcharges cost more than the actual fare.