Apparently some pilots don’t think the airlines are carrying enough extra jet fuel, and according to a report in USA Today, that’s raising concern among pilots.

We know why airlines have been reducing the amount of spare fuel they carry; the less “weight” planes carry, the less jet fuel they’ll burn, and in these days of crazy fuel prices, that’s a necessity. The question is, are they going too far?

On Friday, I spoke with James J. Ballough, Director, Flight Standards Service with the FAA, about this story.

Now, you should know that, according to USA Today, some pilots (who complained anonymously) said the reductions have meant delays and diversions. But Ballough has a different take. Keep reading.

Interesting news from Travelport this week — the company that owns international global distribution systems (GDS) which drive corporate travel bookings — and part owner of Orbitz.

According to Travelport executives, they are seeing “softness” in both consumer and corporate travel – this according to first-quarter earnings reports.

Segments booked through the company’s Galileo GDS were down 3 percent globally, “with the Americas region creating the greatest drag in the business, registering a 7 percent slip from the same period in 2007.”

Another sign, it seems, that we’re getting closer and closer to “push back” — the fabled tipping point where increasing fuel surcharges lead American travelers to say, “Enough! Let’s stay home.”

I urge you to check out my latest ABCNews.com column. I talk about what air travel could be like when oil hits $200 a barrel (and yes, apparently, that could well happen in the next year or so).

The $200 oil scenario has got some people thinking: was flying really so bad before airline deregulation?

And, is it time for some heroes to step forward? Check out the column, here.

According to investment bank Goldman Sachs, we could see oil at $200 a barrel within a year or two.

Wow. A year ago, who could have imagined such a thing?

But it looks like it’s heading that way, so we better be prepared.

And that’s where my list comes in, Five Things to Look For (and what it means and what can you do about it).

Keep reading…

I’ve said it before, but let me say this again:

If you are going to be flying to a vacation spot this summer, get your tickets now!

Anyone who’s looked at this blog lately, knows that fuel prices are rising almost on a weekly basis.

Be smart, and “hedge” the fuel surcharge on your airline ticket price; buy now.

As of this morning, all the legacy carriers were onboard with the $20 roundtrip increase initiated by Delta earlier this week.

This increase was across the bulk of the airlines’ respective route systems.

What this means for you and me?

Well, it means the fuel surcharge now stands at $130 roundtrip for many of the city pairs across the country (especially those city pairs that do not overlap with a low cost airline’s route).

Rising fuel surcharges and escalating airfare aren’t just a domestic thing.

European carriers are feeling the crunch, as well, and now international travelers are feeling the burn on both sides of the Pond. Whether you’re heading overseas on a carrier based in the US or the EU, be prepared for higher fuel surcharges.

Keep reading to see which airlines currently have the highest European Fuel Surcharges…

NEW UPDATE (AS OF 5-9-08): ALL LEGACY CARRIERS NOW MATCH HIKE!

Last night, Delta Air Lines initiated the 15^th attempted domestic airfare increase of 2008 by raising its fuel surcharge by an additional $20 roundtrip; this surcharge affects the bulk of its route system.

The new total fuel surcharge (on numerous Delta city-pairs) is now up to a record $130 roundtrip.

Even worse, this means the total fuel surcharge combined with taxes and fees costs more than the actual base airfare on several short-haul domestic flights.

Let’s dig a little deeper, shall we? Keep reading…

The folks at Fox Business News (Liz Claman and David Asman) will be interviewing me today at about 2pm Eastern time.

They’ll be asking about how the airlines (and passengers!) will be handling the excruciatingly high fuel costs.

If you have the time, listen in, and please comment on this.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any higher, fuel prices continue to climb. We’ve already seen cost-per-barrel rise above $120 for the first time in history, but things could get worse.

Holly over at PlaneBuzz delves into this morning’s announcement from Goldman Sachs analysts that suggests that “crude prices are now poised to potentially rise between $150 and $200/barrel…”

Check out PlaneBuzz for an in depth look at what this latest revelation from analysts could mean for travelers.

A once unthinkable barrier has been breached; for the first time in history, the price of oil has surged past $120 a barrel.

Get out your wallets; clearly the airlines are not done with raising fuel surcharges.

Watch this space for updates.

In the wee hours this morning Continental Airlines filed a change to their trans-Atlantic international fuel surcharge - raising it by $40 roundtrip to $270 roundtrip.

Typical taxes and fees on a European roundtrip are approximately $120, which means that before you even start to pay for airfare on any European trip (including those off-season winter prices) you are going to be looking at just shy of $400 before the the airlines (in this case Continental) even starts to charge for airfare. For summer international travel — prices will be well above $1200 out-the-door for roundtrips to Europe .. Ouch!

Yesterday Delta Airlines began the 14^th attempted domestic airfare hike which will affect the bulk of its route system (that’s over 13,000 city-pairs). United Airlines joined yesterday, and American came onboard today.

The increase - in the form of a fuel surcharge - is from $10 to $40 roundtrip, depending on the type of airfare and city-pair.

This means, travel between some city-pairs will include a whopping $110 roundtrip fuel surcharge. In comparison, the average transatlantic fuel surcharge is about $230 roundtrip.

It appears that Delta is poised to make its CEO’s call for a 15-20% airfare increase (to offset fuel prices) a grim reality in the coming the weeks. I’ll explain, if you keep reading.

Belgium-based Brussels Airlines has announced it’s trying to reduce fuel costs by dropping some weight on planes, and — by slowing some of their planes down.

They’re not slowing them by much: just about 6.2 miles per hour, and just on short hops throughout Europe. According to a BBC report, this would only add about a minute or two to the length of a trip, but it would cut the annual fuel bill by $1.6 million (these are Avro planes).

Wonder if that could work here? I’m sure most of us wouldn’t mind a little longer flight, if it would put a halt to some of those hefty fuel surcharges.

The first quarterly reports of 2008 are out, and the airlines are not looking good. But there was one bright spot:

Southwest. The only airline to show a profit.

Take a look at the excellent chart from the New York Times (keep reading below or click here) and you’ll see why. Only Southwest has been far-sighted enough to hedge the price of its fuel as much as it has, in the past — this year — and in the years to come.

Once again, blame it on the high price of jet fuel.

According to the AP, United Airlines says it’s going to cut 1,100 jobs this year (500 management, 600 union jobs), and it will cut capacity by 9% in the 4^th quarter.

And, the airline will take another 10 to 15 narrow-body aircraft out of its fleet.

Sad thing is, United would have had a good quarter this year, if not for fuel costs, which have risen nearly 50% in a year.

Starting early Wed., the legacy carriers began to match the United Airlines fuel surcharge increase of an additional $10-$20 roundtrip initiated late Tues.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This brings the domestic fuel surcharge for many markets to $70 roundtrip from its previous high of $50 roundtrip.

Here’s how the matching went (and in this order):

• US Airways matched only at the $20 roundtrip level
• Delta matched at the $10 and $20 roundtrip level
• Continental matched only at the $20 roundtrip level
• American matched only at the $20 roundtrip level
• Northwest just matched at 12:30 today

For more details, and my take on this…keep reading.

As fuel costs continue to soar, airlines are starting to see the full impact of the increases. Today, Southwest Airlines said it may spend $500 million more on fuel this year than it did in 2007. Now, Southwest hedged 70% of its expected fuel consumption in 2008 at an average price of $51 a barrel, but not all airlines are in the same boat, so their additional spending could be much more. Delta has already reported a 28% increase to $1.36 billion for it’s Q3 fuel bill, United saw a jump of 46%, and Northwest Airlines expects its fuel costs to jump $1.7 billion higher than its earlier projections.

The airlines’ fuel woes have obviously affected U.S. passengers, as we’re seeing average fuel surcharges of $50 (for domestic travel), $215 (for European travel), and $280 (for travel to Asia). Of course, we also see the impact of the rising cost of fuel everyday at the gas pump.

Well, things aren’t all that different for the airlines. I thought it would be interesting to see how much the airlines are paying for “gas” by checking out the latest Jet Fuel Spot price and comparing it to prices in the past. The result gives us a clearer picture as to what we’re paying for when we shell out money for those fuel surcharges, and it gives a clue as to where we might be headed…

UPDATE: ALOHA AIRLINES ENDS PASSENGER SERVICE! Many of today’s flights have been cancelled and NO tickets for flights after Monday will be honored. According to the Associated Press, Aloha’s president said, “We had no choice but to take this action.” They are working to seat passengers on other airlines. Read the article, and check with Aloha (they have updated information on their website) or contact your travel agent or credit card rep.

MARCH 21 (original post): For the second time in about 2-years, Aloha Airlines filed for bankruptcy. A lot of the pain Aloha is feeling is caused by jet fuel prices; it’s difficult to plan a budget when your major cost just keeps going up, up, up.

The other factor in the bankruptcy? Inter-island airfare WAR!

This is a “war” of sorts that’s been going on for some time, and it involves 3 different airlines; let’s take a look at that — just click on “more”.

We are now in uncharted waters.

There has never been a time since we began closely tracking airfares back in 2002 with so many attempted airfare hikes of this frequency or magnitude. Nothing to compare it to.

Now it’s Delta’s turn — again. The carrier tried and failed with a $10 airfare hike last week, but today it’s trying with a $10 roundtrip domestic fuel surcharge.

Look for this to affect 21,000 business airfares city-pairs (without 14 day advance purchase) and 15,000 city-pairs for leisure travel.

There was quite an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times today, about our nation’s “aging airline fleets.”

The reporters noted the recent delays due to maintenance issues, and blamed it in part on the age of the planes, saying U.S. airlines “operate some of the oldest fleets in the world.”

The big problem: older planes need more upkeep, which can mean more down time. And more delays for you and me.

Which U.S. airline operates the oldest fleet? Keep reading, and also keep reading about why this could put us at a disadvantage with “Open Skies.”

I have been chatting with several reporters about European travel recently, including Michelle Higgins at the New York Times who had a good article this past weekend on one of my favorite subjects: “Open Skies” (get ready — it starts March 30th).

As you know, I spend a good portion of my day reviewing all sorts of airline ticket pricing information and it has been astounding and gratifying to see base airfare prices to Europe as low as $400 roundtrip for summer travel.

But then…the other shoe drops. By that I mean, reality dawns — and it becomes clear that this “astounding” deal does not include taxes, fees and fuel surcharges. However, even with these fees and surcharges, you can still find good travel deals to Europe. In order to make the best buying decision, though, it’s important to understand what makes up the total cost of an airfare. Keep reading; I’m about to show you a real airfare example, and how it all breaks down. You’ll be amazed.

By Saturday night, it was official: Northwest had joined the other legacy carriers in the unprecedented $4 to $50 roundtrip increase (an increase initiated by United last Thursday).

If you’re keeping score, this is the 4^th increase by legacy airlines in as many weeks (but as you’ll see, a couple of airlines are “wavering” a bit).

And yes, it’s all about the high cost of jet fuel.

My predictions, and what we passengers can do, coming right up (just click “more”).

My ABCNews.com weekly column was just posted this morning and it addresses the seemingly unstoppable increases in airline ticket fuel surcharges.

You feel the pain every time you pull into the pump and the airlines are struggling with it as well.

I have come up with a set of tips to help you beat the fuel surcharge blues, check out the column — I have used these tips and I know they will help you as well.

Background: Friday evening and over the weekend, the last of the legacy airline stragglers matched the $10 roundtrip airfare increase.

Remember, United initiated the increase on Friday morning, and by Saturday evening, Northwest Airlines had come along to complete the match by all six remaining legacy airlines.

So…what does that mean?

We have all the gory details.

Just click “more” to read all about it.