low-fare boom
Two recent reports bode well for the future of low-cost airlines. A Business Travel Coalition survey of company travel managers in September found that 76 percent of the firms increased their use of low-fare carriers during 2003, and that 73 percent were dissatisfied with their current fare contracts, most of which are with major network airlines. Meanwhile, a report from JP Morgan predicts that by 2006, low-cost carriers in the U.S. will be operating 1,030 aircraft, vs. 776 today; and that they will operate 40 percent of domestic flights, up from the current 32 percent. Over the same period, the report predicts no growth in the fleets of network airlines.

superior seats
Lufthansa is the latest big airline to roll out a new business class with fully flat seat/beds, which passengers should start seeing this month in long-haul Airbus A340-600s and A330-300s. But that's not all: Lufthansa said business class seating space is being expanded by 25 percent; there'll be more carry-on storage space; and seats will be adjustable with six independent internal motors and a memory function. The new entertainment system's individual monitors will be four times larger than the old ones, and passengers will be able to surf the Internet, send e-mail, see movies on demand, and even read audio books or take language lessons.

opening doors