Cost of Flying Hits New All Time High

Average Ticket Price Surges Most for Islip, Midway, Midwest Airports

Jan 29, 2009

Airfare cost more last summer than in 13 years of record-keeping. The average price was $362 per itinerary. Fliers in and out of Cincinnati suffered biggest increases.

The latest report on USA airline prices, issued Jan. 28, 2009 by the US Department of Transportation, showed that travel on domestic flights last summer jumped 10 % to the highest level for any quarter in the 13 years it has made such measurements.

Boomers and seniors seeking relief from soaring prices may well have found lower fares toward the end of last year and at the start of 2009 because of special competitive sales, or because the decline in the price of oil has led to a reduction in fuel surcharges. However, these elements might have been eclipsed by the additional cost for baggage, food and drinks now being charged by most airlines.

Which Airports Saw the Biggest Price Increases?

Among the top 100 airports, the highest average fares were in Cincinnati; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C. The lowest were at Dallas Love Field; Orlando, Fla.; Burbank, Calif., and Long Beach,Calif., according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the DOT subdepartment that keeps such records.

Along with mid-south travelers, midwest fliers actually felt the skyrocketing costs most. The largest year-to-year average fare increases for the third quarter among those 100 largest airports, ranked by 2007 originating passengers, was nearly 27 % in Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP); followed by Islip, N.Y.; Chicago Midway; Knoxville, Tenn. (TYS); and Columbus, Ohio (CMH).

Another measure of airfares, the Air Travel Price Index (ATPI), also reached an all-time high in the third quarter of 2008. The ATPI measures are somewhat different because they show the rise in airfares in general, while the “average fares” numbers show the increased use of lower fares.

The varying results reflect trends in the airline industry. For instance low-cost carriers, which generally offer lower fares, now carry about 40 % of all domestic passengers, up from about 14 % in 1995.

Second, the network carriers have been forced to match some of the low-cost carrier relaxed fare rules, such as eliminating the “Saturday Night Stay Rule”, which has allowed more passengers to purchase lower fares. Third, use of the internet allows almost instant price comparisons that “give the customer the opportunity for unprecedented low-fare shopping,” according to the Bureau.

One Bad Airline Does Not Report At All

How bad was it for some carriers? The Bureau noted that Spirit Airlines failed to file any report at all for the third quarter. Spirit is currently locked in battles with both its pilots, who want a better contract, and flights attendants, who are upset about new aprons they are being asked to wear that include advertising for Budweiser beer. The flight attendants say they don’t want to be “walking billboards,” according to the Florida Sun Sentinel. Spirit is the largest operator at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

For more on the worst airlines in terms of on-time performance see this earlier article and read this about ongoing problems for major carriers.

The copyright of the article Cost of Flying Hits New All Time High in Senior Travel is owned by Grace Lichtenstein. Permission to republish Cost of Flying Hits New All Time High in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.