One Billion Air Passengers

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prediction of domestic air passenger growth to almost one billion passengers by the year 2010 is good news for us in the travel industry. The number of air passengers will be almost double from current levels. The FAA prediction is a warning about the need to meet demand with capacity. Does the crystal ball predict longer security lines and more crowded airplanes or more flights and more streamlined efficient security screenings? Already Chicago's Ohare airport has been subject to FAA enforced restrictions in landings because of limited capacity. The FAA predicts more growth for smaller regional airlines and smaller growth for the major legacy airlines. The airline business model continues to evolve to the more efficient and profitable low cost carriers such as Southwest, AirTran and Jet Blue. All in all the good news for the travel industry is growth in demand hopefully as partners with the government to meet the growing capacity.