permaculture

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http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/005214.html



Airports Lose Passenger Flights As Peak Oil Starts To Bite



In what is still the pretty early stages of the Peak Oil transition cities 
are losing passenger air service.





Financially strapped airlines are cutting service, and
nearly 30 cities across the United States have seen their scheduled
service disappear in the last year, according to the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics. Others include New Haven, Conn.; Wilmington,
Del.; Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; and Boulder City, Nev.



Over the same period, more than 400 airports, in cities large and
small, have seen flight cuts. Over all, the number of scheduled flights
in the United States dropped 3 percent in May, or 22,900 fewer flights
than in May 2007, according to the Official Airline Guide.





For me the most surprising aspect of this trend
is the level of traffic in January 2007 for airports that have now lost
all commercial service. For example, Boulder City Nevada previously had
401 flights in January 2007 and now has none. Though big airports lost
a much larger absolute number of flights. Chicago O'Hare lost 3,098
from 33,770 in January 2007 to 30,675 in January 2008.




The US Congress is in denial on the causes of high oil prices. Since
less oil will be forthcoming we need to accept the need to use less of
it. But rather than simply accept the need to use less fossil fuels in
aviation some US Congress critters are trying to increase the amount of
tax money allocated to subsidize commercial flights into rural airports.





Now, some lawmakers are pushing for more money for the
air service program as part of a broader funding bill for the Federal
Aviation Administration that is before the Senate. The House passed the
measure last year.





This same Congress wants to sue OPEC for price fixing.
This very same Congress puts obstacles in the way of Brazilian ethanol
imports and also subsidizes US agriculture in other ways against
foreign producers. But the hypocrisy is less important than the
delusion underlying their stance: They at least pretend to believe that
OPEC has control over oil prices. Almost all OPEC members are running
at maximum capacity. They do not have pricing power.




Business executives face markets that force them to deal with reality. As a 
result more big cuts are in store for US passenger air transport capacity.





For now, we'll see more capacity-cut announcements.
American said it will shrink its mainline domestic schedule in the
fourth quarter this year by 11% to 12%. It had previously planned a
4.6% domestic reduction in the fourth quarter. American said it will
retire about 75 jets – some regional jets, plus some wide-body A300s
and some aging MD-80s narrow-body planes, the workhorse of its domestic
fleet.





But I bet flights in China will continue to rise as the rapidly growing 
Chinese economy outbids the US economy for oil.




I'm actually encouraged by airline cutbacks and crashing sales of
SUVs. People are making adjustments and using less oil. We need all
that oil demand destruction, the sooner the better. Otherwise oil
prices will need to go higher faster in order to force people and
businesses to change their ways.




The latest new high for oil of $133.38 per barrel illustrates our need to 
start finding ways to use less oil.





Oil hits new record: U.S. light crude oil for July
delivery rose as high as $133.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange before pulling back. Oil prices reacted to the weekly supplies
report which showed a surprise drop in crude oil and gasoline
inventories and a weaker-than-expected buildup in distillates, used in
heating oil.





If you start making choices that lower your oil usage before you are
economically forced to cut back then you'll be able to make less costly
and less painful choices.






By Randall Parker at 2008 May 21 02:25 PM 
Energy Transportation

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