Tech & Biz

Crisis looms for airlines

by mtippett | June 26, 2008 at 08:34 pm

638 views | 4 Recommendations | 7 comments

For anyone who has been paying attention, the perils of peak oil have been obvious for some time now. But if you think you're getting pinched at the pump imagine what it must be like to fuel up a 747? Yeah, it's not cheap. And now with oil prices at record levels, some are beginning to sound the alarm.

"Unless something is done to move toward some kind of fix, we're going to see every one of our major airlines in bankruptcy," says Robert Crandall, former chairman of American Airlines. "If that isn't enough of a crisis to alert everybody, then I don't know what it will take."

So if airline capacity drops by 30-40% as some are projecting, the cost of flying will also go up putting even more inflationary pressure on an increasingly burdened system. The days of cheap, easy flying may be over so enjoy that re-heated chicken sandwich in a box while you can. Your next business trip may well be done on a Greyhound.

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Caoimhin1

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:17 on June 27th, 2008

mtippett, I like this story. It's good stuff.

rpshen

at 12:41 on June 27th, 2008

well, with the price of fuel rising so high, alternative forms of energy suddenly seem like such a good idea and not so expensive after all.

JeffHuang

at 13:30 on June 27th, 2008

They really need to think of something to fix this. taking the greyhound for a long period of time is NOT fun.

mtippett

at 14:06 on June 27th, 2008

Now you're reminding me of my university days. In case you've ever considered it, I would advise against the 24 hour ride from Kingston, Ontario to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It's not worth it, no matter how bad the snow is or how cheap the all inclusive deal seems.

kferaday

at 15:34 on June 27th, 2008

Given that competition for oil is just going to increase, we really need to focus on alternate forms of transportation. In NA I don't know why we haven't moved forward with high speed trains between major urban centers.

In the longer term I think it's going to really change the way we do business. Technologies like telepresence aren't quite ready for primetime but we're probably going to need them in the future. I think social software platforms could also play a role here.

Criticom

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:36 on June 27th, 2008

mtippett, I like this story. It's good stuff.

NewRin-D

at 20:04 on June 27th, 2008

I was on my way home and was playing with my camera when I found the B&W feature. I loved the idea of everyone traveling by plane and just wondered where they were all headed! With gas prices so high, I think that I would rather fly these days!

NewRin-D has contributed a photo to this story.