The Freakonomics Quorum on Air Travel

As the summer of our air travel discontent gives way to the fall of our air travel discontent, the Freakonomics guys pose a question to five airline industry heavyweights on their New York Times blog: What Will U.S. Air Travel Look Like in Ten Years? More specifically, Stephen J. Dubner asks:

The U.S. airline market is a mess right now, with unhappiness increasing among customers, employees, and executives. While certain companies have become profitable again, the future looks murky. What will the U.S. airline industry look like in 10 years in terms of prices? Customer service? Safety? Technology? The economics of the business itself?

Their five respondents include Virgin founder and chairman Richard Branson and Salon’s Ask the Pilot columnist Patrick Smith. The latter doesn’t envision much change in the future.

All in all, short of an extreme fuel crisis or economic calamity (either or both of which are possible), there is no reason to believe that the skyscape will look terribly different a decade from now. Our perspective, maybe, is what needs to change most. Domestic air travel will never again be glamorous or elite, and a certain degree of hassle and discomfort is unavoidable in a business that, by 2015, will be hauling a billion Americans annually, at affordable fares, in reasonable comfort and in near-perfect safety.

Reasonable comfort? Is it too much to hope that, by 2015, planes will offer room for my knees?

Related on World Hum:
* The Summer of Our Air Travel Discontent?*
* Zen and the Art of Strolling Past Bob Dole While Boarding a Plane

Photo of Michael Yessis’s knees by Michael Yessis.

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