Airlines: Tickets could get cheaper

Local travelers will see fewer flights in 2009, but also could take advantage of discounted fares after the first of the year.

Perhaps even better for cash-strapped airline customers: fewer new fees for services once covered by the ticket cost.

In the bleak economy, airlines are a relative bright spot. Demand for travel remains vulnerable, but some carriers project a return to profits in 2009.

Soaring fuel costs forced airlines to reduce flights and employees and raise fares before the downturn became more severe this past fall. The big question is whether the higher fares of recent months will stick as customer demand ebbs, especially since airlines have more wiggle room after oil prices fell from more than $140 a barrel in July to less than $35 this month.

Airline expert Terry Trippler thinks demand will be soft enough to trigger "good deals" from airlines early next year, but that passenger traffic will start growing by the summer.

"It's going to be better than most people think it is. There are some people who are just hooked on traveling," Trippler said, adding, "Americans have an amazing ability to surprise us on this."

Still, the ongoing recession will continue to weaken business at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, where passenger volume was down 14 percent in November compared with the same month last year.

On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines announced its planned RDU-to-Paris flight won't begin until at least 2010 because of the tough economy. That follows other flight cuts at RDU in the past year.

But low-fare carriers provide a glimmer of hope: JetBlue Airlines will add a second non-stop flight from Raleigh-Durham to Boston in May. Four flights cut by Southwest Airlines in January will return to the schedule next year. Southwest also will restore flights to Las Vegas and Orlando in March, and flights to Chicago and Nashville in May.

US Airways plans to start selling pillow and blanket kits early next year. Trippler said he expects more airlines to offer new services at a cost, such as inflight Internet access -- now available on American Airlines flights.

Otherwise, airlines have almost run out of services they can "unbundle" from fares, Trippler said. Some carriers may follow US Airways and charge for soft drinks and coffee, he said, but "that's about over."