Air travel may become a luxury again

Some analysts are predicting that as ticket prices continue their steep climb due to rising fuel costs, air travel will increasingly resemble what it used to look like back in the 1950s, when only the very wealthy and a handful of business people on official trips could actually afford it. If this prediction were, in fact, to come to fruition, an entire generation of passengers raised on cheap flights and discount airlines would have to become accustomed to a stark new reality, which would not only result in fewer opportunities to fly, but would also likely lead to a decline in mobility and the overall movement of people.

George Hoffer, an economics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, believes that the US travel industry will have little choice but to go through a dramatic transformation if it is to get out of the spiral of losses and-at best-dismally small profit margins. This transformation-which is already taking place-will include fewer flights, planes and routes, all of which will lead to a decline in passenger traffic. The natural consequence of all these changes is pricier airfare. “If things continue using the present business model that airlines are using, airline travel will go back to what it was in the ’50s where basically, it will be for the classes and not the masses,” Hoffer argued.

The US air travel industry certainly appears to be in dire straits A total of eight airlines have declared bankruptcy and grounded all flights over the course of the past seven months and the US air travel industry’s combined loss during the first quarter of the year stood at a staggering $1.7 billion.