Vacations Delivered

Source: MSNBC

Airlines took a huge financial loss in 2009, suffering the worst-ever in delcines in passenger demand, indicating a recovery is likely not going to happen this year, an industry group said Wednesday.

Passenger demand dropped 3.5 percent last year, with companies struggling to fill more than three quarters of available seats on average flights, the International Air Transport Association said. Freight demand fared even worse, falling 10.1 percent year-on-year and filling less than half available capacity, the group said.

“In terms of demand, 2009 goes into the history books as the worst year the industry has ever seen,” said IATA Chief Executive Giovanni Bisignani.

“We have permanently lost 2½ years of growth in passenger markets and 3½ years of growth in the freight business,” he said.  IATA restated its earlier estimate that the industry will lose $5.6 billion in 2010.

The fall in demand slowed toward the end of the year, partly as a result of airlines slashing flights to avoid overcapacity, but yields remained 5-10 percent below 2008 levels, IATA said.

“Revenue improvements will be at a much slower pace than the demand growth that we are starting to see,” said Bisignani.

Security Issues Behind the Slowdown

Revenues and passenger travel are intrinsically linked, and so it’s no surprise to any industry analyst that airport security is having a huge impact on the slowdown.  Passengers are losing patience with long security checks.  And, for businesses, the air cargo handling issues are of equal concern.   The ATSB and the Fed have shifted financial responsibility to cargo carriers and the shippers to foot the bill for ramping up their air cargo security systems.  For many, the costs are too high and consequently air cargo is also facing a downturn.

Think about it: If you are small company that ships roughly $10,000 worth of goods a month overseas, but the costs of having your cargo pre-screened before boarding costs $5,000, that’s a big chunk of change to put up.  Most small business lenders out there are also making it tough for these little guys to get their hands on cash for the upgrades and additional security support.  And, it doesn’t take a genius in small business finance to figure out that only the big companies, the UPS’s of the world and so on, can survive for long.

He said 2010 would be “another spartan year” for the industry, marked by careful capacity control and cost reduction.

Fresh calls to increase security following the Dec. 25 attempted airline bombing in the United States will put additional pressure on the industry, Bisignani said, adding that governments — not airlines — should pick up the bill.

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My take:

It’s no surprise to me that, with the extensive delays that are now part and parcel of air travel to and from just about any airport in the world now, that more and more people would rather have prefer to do business with a Brooklyn slip fall attorney than have to strip their pockets and then wait in long lines for the privilege of boarding a plane.

The TSA may have implemented changes aimed at streamlining the process for “check-in” and boarding at airports across the country, but in many cases, the process of boarding a plane still feels like it’s being handled by a two-bit Sacramento County unarmed security company.   This is especially true when you think about how easily it was for the recently arrested would-be bomber to get explosives on board a plane in one country and land in ours, all the while wearing a bomb in his Fruit of the Looms.

Any NY City car accidents attorney or divorce lawyer for that matter can easily tell you where the responsibility for that blunder began.  The amount of money the government has poured into revamping the security equipment at our nation’s airports is astounding, and yet, we, as air travelers, know that the system is not anywhere close to offering us the level of security we obviously need.

If you do get on a flight, you’ve better have been working for a while on the most up-to-date Pilates fitness equipment, because that’s what it takes these days to maneuver down the narrow aisles and in and out of the incredibly shrinking seats we now pay for.  Forget about movie and snacks.  Those are slowly being removed from the list of perks for domestic travel, if not taken away altogether.  Along with blankets and pillows, in-flight entertainment has become a thing of the past.  You’re better off bringing your laptop and watching a Pilates dvd on board to get the hang of things.

Other Resources:

Security at home

If you don’t want to travel by air and are concerned about security at home while away, check out the latest wood entry doors on the market.  They make outstanding exterior wood doors these days with double locks and tempered glass windows that provide great security for you and your family, and will give your home a fabulous look.

Commercial Security

As a business owner, your time and security are valuable and this New York City locksmith knows it.  They can provide service for commercial, office, storage room and padlock lockouts.  As well as provide commercial locks rekey, master rekey, repair and installation.  They can even open your safe for you if you have lost your combination!  Whether your business requires high security locks, alarm systems installed and maintained, CC TV systems installed or repaired or if you need buzzer systems with access control installed or repaired, these are the New York City locksmiths you want.