road to recovery
The Federal Aviation Administration predicts that the post-9/11 falloff in air travel may have bottomed out. In its annual forecast, the agency predicted that passenger numbers on domestic routes will return to their pre-9/11 totals in 2005. Smaller carriers will grow faster than big ones, the FAA said, predicting an annual growth rate of 3.6 percent for the major network airlines over the next two years, but a rate of 6.4 percent for regional carriers, including low-cost operators. Although hub-and-spoke operations will continue to dominate, look for more point-to-point travel options as low cost carriers expand, the FAA said.

cost cutbacks
Have you been spending less per trip than you used to? According to a survey by consultants at Runzheimer & Co., the cost of the average domestic business trip in 2003 was $915, a drop of almost 11 percent from 2002 and the lowest level since 1996. The company attributes the drop to declining air fares, greater use of low-cost carriers and mandatory cost-cutting and expense policy enforcement imposed by corporations on their travelers. Meanwhile,a 2004 survey of business travelers by Orbitz found that 83 percent of them said they feel a sense of obligation to save their companies money when they travel this year.

carb craze