Rising fuel costs bad news for airline passengers
The consumer impact of rising fuel costs: fewer flights, more crowded security lanes and higher ticket prices, according to airline analysts. And that’s not all.
“The good news? There isn’t any,†says the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Other negative consumer impacts from the ailing airline industry:
· Higher luggage fees.
· More add-on costs.
· Low budget airlines already sell sodas and snacks; expect more of the same from the regular carriers.
· The next frontier will be for airlines to start charging passengers for buying their tickets with a credit card, suggests travel expert Joe Brancatelli.
· “Booking fees,” charged merely for the privilege of buying a ticket no matter how you pay, are also a real possibility, he said. So is the idea of charging a fee for carry-on luggage.
· As the cost of everything involved with flying goes up, expect to pay more just to get to the airport. Cabdrivers in Miami, for example, got the go-ahead to begin adding a fuel surcharge to their fares: At gas prices of $4 a gallon, an extra $1.50 will be tacked on to each fare.
Aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia said with fuel prices steadily increasing, air travel will soon be dramatically altered as airlines attempt to compensate for such additional costs, reported The Washington Post.
“The party is coming to an end,” Mr Aboulafia said. “With fuel prices like this, it’s going to get much worse for fliers. It has to get much worse, or airlines are going to continue to lose billions of dollars.”
The Air Transport Association says US airlines are expected to spend more than $40 billion on jet fuel in 2008 alone and those costs could rise to $61.2 billion in 2009.
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