The airline industry is in turmoil as further exemplified by the bankruptcy filings by Delta and Northwest Airlines. American Airlines has lessened their bleeding, but I believe they are still losing ground. I haven’t researched the facts, so I’m not completely sure about that, but that’s my perception.
Meanwhile, the steady rise of gas prices cannot be good. But the trend most likely to affect the airlines is probably the continuing massive deployment of broadband. With increasing deployments of broadband, it becomes possible to improve the quality of interactivity across great distances. A by-product could very well be less business travel and thus an ever decreasing source of revenue for the airlines.
But the airline industry in some form must survive. I, for one, as evidenced in my Kauai posts, like to travel, so I’m pulling for the airline industry to figure something out. My prediction is that the airlines industry will see major changes to their business models — so major that air travel will be radically different in the future.
Technology is the ultimate disruptor and I think we’re only a few years from seeing how this is going to play out. So get yourself to your favorite destination now!
