Buoyed by a slowly-improving economy, travelers are booking international flights this summer in record numbers, according to the Air Transport Association of America (ATA). Contributing to the expected airborne exodus abroad is ATA’s assessment that air travel remains a comparative bargain – despite higher prices for jet fuel.
“It is encouraging that more people will be flying this summer, despite higher energy prices taxing the economy,” says ATA President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “The trends are pointing in the right direction.”
How many of us will fly aboard this summer? ATA estimates the number will surpass the 25.8 million folks who boarded U.S. airlines’ international flights in summer 2010.
The driving force behind mush of this international flying is business.
“The growth in international air travel reaffirms the pivotal role that commercial aviation will play in connecting the United States to the global economy,” Calio says. Piggybacking on all these new business-driven international flights are leisure travelers. Those pricey seats up front, in the pointy end of the airplane, help make possible the discount deals flyers can get back in coach.
In the coming years look for U.S. carriers to forge flights to lots more far away places with strange-sounding names.
“In the next decade,” Calio projects, “the majority of travel growth will take place outside our borders in developing economies.”
The result could be some eye-opening travel experiences for flyers who’ve been stuck in the same sun n’ fun travel rut. Convenient, nonstop flights tend to open up not just new markets, but people’s minds as well.
Here at home, more folks will be flying this summer too. It’s just that the domestic pace will be a little more pedestrian than the international expansion. The Air Transport Association of America projects that about 180 million domestic passengers will fly this summer. That’s up from the 177.3 million who did so last summer. But it’s still significantly short of the record 192.4 million flyers who took wing back in the sizzling summer of 2007 – before the recession reared its head in earnest.
While all this bodes well for your ability to grab a great rate to an exotic destination you’ve never seen before, there is a bid of a petrol-laced cloud hanging over things. Despite the recent dip in jet fuel prices, airlines remain concerned about high energy prices and their effect on the price – as well as availability – of flights.
“Even as demand for air travel continues to improve,” Calio says, “high and volatile energy prices could hamper recovery efforts.”
Consider: during the first fiscal quarter of 2011 U.S. airlines anted up some 11.4 billion for fuel alone. That’s up 30 percent from the same period in 2010. ATA says the cost of jet fuel is now at its highest level since the third quarter of 2008.
Not only do high fuel prices mean higher ticket prices, they mean airlines are cutting marginally-profitable domestic routes. They’ve been especially keen on axing flights operated by 50-passenger regional jets. On a seat-mile basis, those craft can be more costly to fly. Service reductions affect your ability to readily get from Point A to Point B.
Despite the price of petroleum, it’s still a good time to fly. ATA offers these tips for a saner, safer flight this summer – whatever your destination:
- Before you head to the airport, check out your airline’s website for any flight operation alerts. They’re often posted on the carrier’s home page.
- Similarly, check the Federal Aviation Administration’s airport delay map. Go to http://www.faa.gov.
- Remember TSA’s 3-1-1 rule for liquids, gels and aerosols. Pack them away in that properly-sized plastic bag before you go to the airport.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Navid)
