What an absolutely ridiculous assertion. I must exercise my Second Amendment rights in order to force a government agency not to violate my rights under the Fourth Amendment?

RUOK, you have just asserted that government has gone too far. I figured you'd come around to my way of thinking. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

Actually I am just suggesting a way for your luggage to be secured. As for your rights being violated,what are you doing about it?

Actually, what many of us are doing is flying LESS and either driving more or not making the trip period. Pretty soon, there will be more TSA folks in the terminal than passengers. In some airports, that's already the case....

Hence the expression Thousands Standing Around.

I seriously doubt that. At my local airport the airlines are adding flights, and those are already on an oversold basis. From what I am seeing the demand is going up, not down. All the b*tching about the TSA aside, people are flying, and the numbers are rising. Frequent fliers are one thing, but the bread and butter for the airlines are the infrequent fliers.

ACES II,

I have patiently watched you spew nonsense for a long time without getting involved, but this time you've gone too far. Most airlines get most of their revenue from frequent, business travelers. That's a fact. You may believe otherwise, but then again, you believe many things that are not true.

Bruce

Bruce, that just simply is not true. Frequent fliers alone cannot sustain the airlines. Take away the infrequent fliers and the airlines will last maybe a week. Take away the frequent fliers and I suspect the airlines could actually make it. The numbers are just not there. In this day of instant video communication I wonder how much longer there will even be a need for business travel.

Believe what you like. (Some people believe in UFOs, too!)

I never said that airlines could survive on business travelers alone. What I did say -- and it's absolutely true -- is that for MOST airlines, business travelers represent the majority of their revenue. So you tell me, which group is more important, business travelers or people who go to see grandma once a year?

Bruce

Irrelevant. The Federal government is Constitutionally obliged not to play fast and loose with my property.

Besides, you need to read airline regs on carriage of firearms. You can't stow them in your American Tourister. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

What an arrogant and presumptuous question.

I'm hammering my elected and appointed representatives with phone calls and letters, of course. If this foolishness persists, it may cause me to vote differently in '04 than I normally would.

Bruce, name me one airline that gets the majority of their revenue from business travellers. Business travellers do not fill up planes. Granted, they do pay more for their seats, but the numbers just are not there for a majority of their revenue. Like it or not, the numbers of people visiting grandma on a daily basis far outnumber the business traveller.

Bruce is correct. The airlines rely on business travelers for a majority of their profits. These travelers pay far over the airline's costs for trips. The rest of the seats are sold at any price to leisure travelers, starting with 7 day advance purchase Saturday night stay pax and going all the way down to a $40 seat through Priceline.

This revenue model has all kinds of pressure on it, but it is the revenue model of the major airlines at this time.

Aces,

Would you mind providing some proof of your theory?

What airlines are adding flights at what airport? Are these new routes or just additional flights to routes already served? How do you know they are all oversold? Are they oversold for every single day they fly?


I'll skip the frequent flier aspect of your comment because others are already addressing it.

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

Cameraguy, you show me one aircraft that is full of nothing but business travellers and I will agree with you. The VAST majority of travellers are non-business. That is a fact. If you belive that that majority, even with lower ticket prices does not bring in more money, then I have a bridge that I would like you to look at.

Tazi, at my local, well about 75 miles away, airport, US Express, Delta Connection and United Express are all adding flights, to both new destinations and established routes. They are oversold on a regular basis. I know this because I have started collecting the free round trip vouchers for having flexible travel arrangements. I fly a lot for my company and I don't live in the same state as my headquarters so I commute a few times a week. From what I have seen at CAE, things are picking up, and that is not a large airport by any means.