Rising fuel costs to alter air travel

WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- U.S. air travel will soon include fewer flights, crowded planes and higher ticket prices, thanks to rising fuel costs, analysts say.

Aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia said with fuel prices steadily increasing, air travel will soon be dramatically altered as airlines attempt to compensate for such additional costs, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

"The party is coming to an end," Aboulafia said. "With fuel prices like this, it's going to get much worse for fliers. It has to get much worse, or airlines are going to continue to lose billions of dollars."

The Air Transport Association says U.S. airlines are expected to spend more than $40 billion on jet fuel in 2008 alone and those costs could rise to $61.2 billion in 2009.

American Airlines official Mark DuPont said while his company has instituted new luggage fees, such additional add-on costs will do little to offset losses.

"There is no silver bullet, nor is this the silver bullet," the vice president for airport services told the Post.