The major U.S. air carriers will be cutting capacity this holiday season. The long and short of it is that there will be fewer seats, because there are fewer people who want to fly.
The Air Transport Association tracks the numbers, and after analyzing data of the flight plans filed by the airlines, the organization says the available seat miles in the 4th quarter will be down almost 12.5% compared to last year.
"Middle of the day and it's kind of quiet," John Brady said as he sat near the baggage claim at Minneapolis-St. Paul International. Brady flies at least twice a month on business and says he's noticed a few changes.
"It's a little hard to find the variety of flights that maybe six months ago we would have had," the Detroit native said.
"It's really quite dramatic," airline analyst Terry Trippler said of the capacity cuts. He also said the cuts were necessary because there are fewer business and pleasure travelers. "The name of the game here is seats, and for the airline, the name of the game is butts in the seats," he explained.
Trippler says cuts in supply may or may not lead to higher demand for airline seats. At this point, an increase in demand hasn't pushed up the price. "You're not going to pay a premium; you're just not going to get a sale. They're not raising fares, but they're not lowering them," he said.
Trippler warns a lot of lower fares for Christmas and Thanksgiving have already been gobbled up. But he is quick to add there are still seats out there for the taking, if you're willing to make a change or two. "If you want to see Grandma, you can go see her, but it may not be exactly how you want to go. You may have to change planes or you may have to go a day or two (early or late). You have to be extremely flexible," he said.
Fewer options. More flexible. More slogans we find in today's economy.
(Copyright 2009 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
