Nifty graphic shows how the airlines are losing altitude.
I've got to give USA Today some credit: they know how to make eye-catching graphics. Take, for example, the nice interactive illustration they posted recently, detailing the expected cutbacks in the airline industry across the US. High fuel costs and a weak economy are forcing air carriers to pare both the number and the seating capacity of the planes they're planning to send aloft -- and the interactive map shows exactly where, and how, those cutbacks are expected, through next October. The snippet to the right doesn't do the real graphic justice -- so check out the original. It's nifty.
Interestingly, Washington is one of only 8 states with a projected increase in seated airplane capacity. But it's an anemic gain of just 1 percent. USA Today projects a 5 percent drop in Oregon, and an 8 percent decline in Idaho. But Hawaii is facing a 27 percent decline in air travel -- a significant blow to the islands' tourist economy.
High oil costs sure change everything, don't they?
