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More people will fly, including many of that one-third of all American adults who have never been up in a plane. E.H. Boullioun, President of Boeing's Commercial Plane Division, observes: "People's life patterns are changing. Young people are living for today. Let's say a couple has a few hundred dollars on hand. They'll spend it flying to California or somewhere."
The bargain hunters are everywhere. Some companies have started to put junior executives on the cramped, cut-rate flights (while senior managers, complaining of the crush on commercial lines, are clamoring for the firm to buy more executive jets). The General Accounting Office, noting that the Government spends $470 million annually on airline tickets, has urged that the bureaucrats take the bargain flights.
Because of the new masses in motion, the new planes and rapidly changing Government policy, the airlines are flying into uncertain skies. Some of the portents are promising. Says Eastern's Borman: "If people start seeing us as a good replacement for the auto, business could go wild. That's the kind of market we're aiming for. We've taken on the ship and the train, but the private auto is the heavyweight championship." Detroit is not worried yet, but the summer of 1978 has proved that the air travel market can grow much bigger, and that the surest means to exploit it is through lower fares. -