Back in 1999, James Surowiecki wrote a column in Slate that was the best explainer of the airline business that I have seen to date. "It is the fact that the airline business is so capital-intensive that makes it such a sketchy business to be in, especially when on top of having to spend tons of money to operate you have to worry about oil prices, cyclical demand, and very little pricing power...In its entire history the airline industry has probably created zero economic value, which is to say that its return on invested capital has never equaled the cost of that capital."
Over the past few weeks I've flown about 7,000 miles, on business and leisure. I've been cossetted in extra-wide seats and offered warm cookies. I've been bumped due to airline incompetence and offered snuff by my seatmates. (It was Levi Garrett. Not my brand.) I've been to Jackson, Mississippi, for no reason whatsoever. So I consider myself an experienced traveler. And when I read this, I got that tingling sensation all of us get when we inherit a clear glimpse of our future. And lo, I was sore afraid.
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