US airlines depending on surge in summer travel

www.farecompare.com

As airlines in the US see business travel drop off in the current economic slowdown, they are hopeful that leisure travel over the summer will provide a boost.

This may not be realistic, however. Carriers are in a position of having to convince consumers to spend their dwindling funds on air travel for summer vacations at a time when people are losing their jobs and their major investments, including homes and retirement plans, are at risk.

“Everybody is wondering if there’s another shoe to drop,” noted Rick Seaney, the chief executive of the online airline research site, Farecompare.com.

He said that although there isn’t a reliable way of determining forward bookings on airlines, there is evidence to suggest that the outlook for leisure air travel this year is not good.

Seaney added that travelers are planning vacations closer to home, and that the search site is seeing many searches for airfares and fewer purchases.

Another reason that airlines may not see the boost in revenue they’re hoping for is that they are offering fares that are deeply discounted to entice consumers. The sales are being extended this year for a much longer period than normal, with 25-50 percent off last summer’s prices.

“These are not prices that we’re going to see outside of a recession,” said Seaney.

Typically, discretionary spending on travel is dependent on consumers feeling economically secure, and there seems to be very little feeling of security in the US currently.

Thanks to www.usatoday.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.farecompare.com