shrinking majors
The Transportation Department's Inspector General, in a new report on U.S. commercial aviation, said that between December 2000 and December 2003, the major "network" airlines' share of the U.S. air travel market slipped from 64 percent to 54 percent. At the same time, low-fare carriers boosted their market share by six percentage points, while regional/commuter lines' (including affiliates of the majors) share went up four points. During the same period, the report noted, the number of regional jet flights jumped 140 percent, growing from 10 percent of all domestic flights in December 2000 to 25 percent last December.

bigger budgets
Some 71 percent of company travel managers polled by the National Business Travel Association said they expect corporate trips to rebound in 2004 and 2005. Almost half the managers said their company travel budgets are increasing this year, while less than one in five reported a decrease. But they're still watching the bottom line: Nearly two-thirds said their travelers will be using mid-priced hotels and low-fare airlines as much or more often in 2004 as they did last year. Most of the travel managers said they expect hotel rates and air fares to show no significant increases this year.

more meetings
Part of that increase in business travel will likely be to attend conferences and company gatherings. An annual study by Meeting Planners International and American Express forecasts a 3 percent growth this year in spending on meetings, compared with a 1.1 percent decrease in 2003. That includes an anticipated 11 percent increase in meetings outside North America attended by U.S. travelers. U.S. meeting planners predict that outbound international gatherings will account for 22 percent of all meetings in 2004, up from 11 percent last year—with most of the growth going to Canada and Europe.

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