Airlines will return to their core business, transporting cargo from A to B. All passenger planes will be converted for carrying cargo.

There will be special containers for shipping passengers. Large economy class containers padded with foam inside, with pax standing (padded with additional foam if not full). Business class containers with seats (30" pitch). First class containers with seats (32"), lavs and a soft drink machine. The baggage travels in the same container. No rude flight attendants, lost baggage and no need for carryons.

The world will be divided into 20 zones, the base fare will be determined by the departure and the destination zone. Multiply the base fare by the combined weight of the pax and the baggage (200 pounds minimum). Add $20 for Saturday delivery. An additional $10/hour breathing air charge applies for every animal or passenger transported. Passenger transports pay an extra 30% anti-terrorism tax.

There will be no airports, gates, transfers, stopovers or missed connections. Pax will enter the container at a drop-off point, or picked up at home by a truck for an additional $30. At the end of the journey, the container will be put on a truck and every passenger will be delivered directly to his destination address. No problems with finding your way in unknown cities or criminal cab drivers.

Corporate accounts will allow a third party to pay for the delivery at the point of destination. There will be no FF miles and no cheap return fares, but a full refund if the delivery does not arrive at 10am the following day.

This will result in over 99% on-time deliveries, real-time flight tracking over the Internet and almost no complaints about the service.

In 20 years, the war against the world terrorism is finally won. Meanwhile, the competition between cargo carries cuts the delivery times by over 70%. Airplanes are only used over oceans, with containers being transported in maglev tubes across continents. The competition between passenger container suppliers results in luxuries unseen even in the old days of passenger planes. Virtual reality helmets in Economy and personal whirlpools in First become standard everywhere. Major hotel chains start converting their rooms into racks capable of accepting First and Business class airline containers.

May not bad after all