2008 Up in the Air

Filed in archive En Route on December 30, 2007

No one would argue with me if I said that 2007 was not the best year for air travel. Prices, delays caused by weather or ineptitude, ever-more Spartan services, and so on.

According to MSNBC, 2008 might not be much better than the past year, though things might be getting back on track after the industry hiccups of the past few years.

The big question is whether the delays will go away. Any frequent traveler can probably foresee at least the occasional delayed or cancelled flight on the horizon. That won't change at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. Still, possible mergers of major carriers (Delta and United was the latest rumor) and competition from budget airlines could minimize such problems in the coming months.

Also, the federal government has been involved in the friendly skies, opening military airspace to ease holiday traffic and getting involved in the highest traffic airports in the US:

the government got the airline industry to agree to cap flights during peak hours at JFK and Newark starting March 15.

A lot will change in the airline industry over the next twelve months. Every change might not be considered good from the passenger's point of view, but, I'm sure, everyone would agree that any change is better than keep the awful status quo that marked 2007.