Travel Weekly’s Preview 2018 – Airlines – Travel Weekly
My posting schedule is a little backwards since I won’t even have my review of your 2017 predictions out until Tuesday, but Travel Weekly asked me some questions about my thoughts for 2018 when it comes to the airline industry and I’ve linked to that here. (Try to ignore the terrible grammar in this quote: “They’re all still pretty bullish on their options and think there is a ton of opportunities for them” — I must have said it that way by accident on the phone, but it makes me cringe to read it.) Save your predictions for Tuesday when, as always, I ask for your input so we can review at the end of the year.
2 comments on “Cranky on the Web: What 2018 Will Bring”
Happy new year.
As horrible as I am at predicting future aero industry trends there are a couple areas of interest I’m viewing closely this year:
Sun Country. New owners, new strategy. New life or last chance? It will be interesting to see how the “new” SY develops this year. Successfully I hope but I have to wonder if there is room in the US for a fourth sizable ULCC or if they will be crushed or purchased by a competitor. I’m not sure their fate will be determined this year but its a hell of a gamble. No prediction.
The new breed of independents. The OneJets of the world (well, US). We lost GLO last year and that looked promising, OneJet has moved to larger aircraft and airlines like Southern Air Express and Ultimate Air Shuttle seem to be doing OK right now and I’m curious to see how these “hub avoiders” grow and prosper. Prediction: An interesting year ahead.
Mid-sized US cities and international growth. WOW and Icelandair are moving into smaller US markets like CLE, STL etc…BA has added AUS and BNA. There may be a mini-boom of new TATL markets added and my prediction for 2018: There will be more than a few surprises.
Happy New Year!