Life Without Air-travel

[xHarinder_singh]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/au...airwaysbusiness

More airlines will go bankrupt this year as rising fuel costs and weak consumer confidence ravage the industry, the chief executive of British Airways warned today.

Willie Walsh said carriers that struggled to make a profit during the recent sales boom will not survive the "worst ever" trading environment the industry has seen. The downturn has put 25 airlines out of business this year, including Luton-based business carrier Silverjet.

"You are going to see more airlines go bust. If you look around there are a lot of airlines out there that have not been profitable in the past few years. Those guys will not survive," he said.

Walsh added that fares will rise by an average of around 3% for the rest of the financial year, as BA passes on higher fuel costs to ever fewer passengers. Fares are expected to increase towards the end of the year as airlines' fuel hedges, where carriers buy their fuel in advance at a fixed cost that is often cheaper than the current market price, come to a close.

"As hedging unwinds within the industry, airlines are going to have to reflect the higher oil price. We will have to do something and it's not just BA that will have to adjust prices. The whole industry will have to. We are not reflecting the spot price [of oil] today. What is reflected in our fares is the oil price net of hedging." Higher fuel surcharges are also an option, but BA has already increased those significantly this year.

Walsh said BA is now planning for an oil price of up to $150 (£76) per barrel - a level at which no carrier in the world can make a profit currently. The BA chief executive, who announced an 88% dive in first quarter profits today due to high oil prices, said the re-fashioned BA will have more fuel-efficient aircraft, better customer service and be focused on long-haul business class customers.

"We are honest and realistic about this in a way that a lot of airlines are not. We have asked ourselves the question of what does the industry look like at $150 per barrel and what do we do to be one of the airlines that succeeds in that environment. We don't just want to hang in there."

Walsh did not rule out further capacity cuts next summer, adding that BA will fly its older long-haul planes less often next year in order to cut fuel bill that now stands at £8m per day. "We are not talking about grounding aircraft but the average utilisation will come down slightly."

He said he was "comfortable" with axing around 160 flights per week from BA's winter schedule because sales are always slower between October and March. He denied that the case for a third runway at Heathrow had been hit by recent capacity cuts at BA and other airlines, because long-term demand for commercial flights remains strong, he said.

[Harmeet_Singh]

its probably gonna be life with even more expensive air travel

[xHarinder_singh]

its probably gonna be life with even more expensive air travel

Yep, first the air travel will become very expensive,( which is happening already), then after some time, only very rich people will afford it, after some time only goverment and mililtary will have it.

Air travel for common man is almost over I feel in the next 3-4 years(at most).

Air travel is one of the main culprit in greenhouse emissions. So it will be definately be good for the environment. Sikhs living abroad will have to use ships to do darshan of Itihaasak Guru Ghars.

[Mehtab Singh]

Chalo, atleast no more stress about carrying kirpan on air flights.

[xHarinder_singh]

Chalo, atleast no more stress about carrying kirpan on air flights.

Exactly! this kirpaan removal leads to 2 kurehits. One gets separated from a kakaar which is a body part and secondly, one gets shastar-heenas.

A pakka sikh shud die before getting shastar-heenas.

[Babbar_Singhsta]

dam the worlds falling apart....KALYUGGGG lol

[xHarinder_singh]

source : http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/15/news/compa...rfare/index.htm

[xHarinder_singh]

The End Of Aviation by Bradford Plumer

http://www.tnr.com/environmentenergy/story...fd-b8023fd89459

[Harjeet.Singh]

Money should be abolished...

[jasleen k]

Chalo, atleast no more stress about carrying kirpan on air flights.

Exactly! this kirpaan removal leads to 2 kurehits. One gets separated from a kakaar which is a body part and secondly, one gets shastar-heenas.

A pakka sikh shud die before getting shastar-heenas.

so i'm guessing that neither of you has family overseas? what about those of us who do? even my family in america is four days drive from where i am! for some of us, not using air travel is not an option.

even if you don't have family far away, think of all the smagaams you'd miss! oh wait, there wouldn't be any more smagaams, because none of the raagis would be able to travel to them!