US Airways and United Airlines both reported falling traffic / capacity for the month of November, due to cuts made by carriers to meet the weakening demand for air travel. United Airlines reported a 17 percent drop in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), which went from 9 billion to 7.47 billion. US Airways dropped roughly 7 percent in revenue passenger miles, falling to 4.26 billion from 4.57 billion. According to the AP, United’s pacific flights RPMs dropped nearly 20 percent in the past month. Available seat miles have fallen nearly 14 percent for United in the past year, and approximately 6 percent for US Airways. Load factors for the two carriers fell – 2.7 percent (to 76.9 percent) for United Airlines, and 0.7 percent (to 77.7 percent) for US Airways.
As passenger demand for air travel decreases, we can expect more cuts for the industry. The trend is as follows: bad economy means lower oil prices, as well as lower demand for air travel. Does lower oil prices mean less demand for air travel? Not always, but sometimes. Airlines across the board are cutting capacity. There are advantages to airlines, such as better on-time performance; a smaller amount of flights in the federal air traffic system means less congestion. It’s not a bad time to fly right now, but it’s not good for those employed in the industry.
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