Airlines are cutting flights and capacity to deal with the recession

Just yesterday, one of my clients emailed me to let me know that she booked flights to Cancun from NYC in December on JetBlue for $97 per person. Of course that was each way- not round trip but still, those prices are so low, it will cost more to park your car at the airport than to fly to Mexico.

In order to deal with less people flying, both Delta and America have announced that they were reducing their capacity. What does that mean?

1.Instead of 4 flights a day from JFK to Miami, it might be reduced to 3 or 2.
2.Instead of flying non stop from JFK to Cancun, it might stop in Atlanta or Dallas to pick up more passengers
3. Instead of using a 200 passenger plane, they might cut it down to a 125 passenger plane.

The airlines are charging for everything they can think of to add extra revenue to the bottom line, including charging for each checked piece of luggage, overweight luggage, food and beverages but they are still in the red.

As a travel professional, I am thrilled when my client books a really cheap flight because I know she will be traveling and calling me to book the land portion of her vacation.

Will the cheap flights continue? I would imagine that as inventory goes down, prices will creep up-but only as much as the market will bear. In low season, I expect prices will be relatively low but not around holiday times. I also anticipate all airlines to follow suit in charging for each checked piece of luggage and start limiting the weight of carry on's more strictly.

It is going to be an interesting year in the travel industy.