We’ve just received the latest figures from the Dept. of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS); the figures, for January and February show that the number of domestic and international passengers GREW by 1.8% for a total of 113.2 million travelers.

But, these figures, I suspect, are a little misleading — we really should wait a couple of months, until the next round of figures comes out.

That’s because we’re already seeing signs of “softening” travel demand — and, we’re seeing NO signs of oil prices coming down.

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.”

Bad news: according to an Associated Press article (via the New York Times), major legislation to help fix our antiquated air traffic control system and provide some “real” passenger rights “faltered” yesterday, and it may be doomed.

And Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who heads the Senate’s commerce aviation subcommittee found that incredibly frustrating:

“The aviation system is on the brink of collapse. Our air traffic control system cannot handle the burdens of today, much less tomorrow.” — Sen. Jay Rockefeller

Keep reading, and I’ll try to explain what happened and why we should get angry.

Well, I guess one federal ruling can’t keep the states down. Several weeks ago, we saw New York’s Sate Passenger Bill of Rights get thrown out by a federal court. The court, while in agreement with many of the bill’s goals, stated that only the federal government had the right to pass such regulations.

That ruling, however, has not stopped California from trying to push through a Passenger Bill of Rights of its own. As reported by the Sacramento Bee, passenger rights legislation was passed by the state Assembly on Thursday and now will move to the state Senate.

Keep reading to see how the airlines are reacting…

Good news for people who get bumped from a flight starting next month. The Department of Transportation has increased the amount of money airlines must pay to passengers who are involuntarily denied boarding:

“The Department today finalized changes to its so-called bumping rule, which doubles the limit on compensation airlines must pay passengers who are involuntarily bumped from their flight. Under the new rule which goes into effect next month, fliers who are involuntarily bumped would receive up to $400 if they are rescheduled to reach their destination within two hours of their original arrival time or four hours for international flights, and up to $800 if they are not rerouted within that timeframe.” (from DOT)

With increased capacity loads on flights and talk of a reduction of flights, we could see bumping rates increase this year. It’s important to realize that airlines overbook flights in order to account for those people who miss connections, get a flat tire on the way to the airport, or just plain miss the plane. However, as we all know, sometimes everybody makes it, and there are more airline tickets than available seats. Generally, an airline will ask for volunteers who will be placed on a later flight and receive travel vouchers…

Last week, New York’s State Passenger Bill of Rights was thrown out by the courts and politicians on both sides said they would do their best to pass a Passenger Bill of Rights on a federal level. I’ll keep you informed if anything happens on that front. However, in the meantime, I thought it would be fun to put together a Passenger Bill of Rights that really speaks to what travelers want. No politics, just some perks for the people.

Now, I know the airlines won’t ever get on board with most of these (at least not for coach travelers), but sometimes it’s good to dream. Keep reading for the list of passenger rights my colleagues and I would love to see, and please submit your own ideas. We’ll do our best to keep the list updated…

A quick recap of news and tidbits:

FAA/Airline Congressional Hearings: Southwest denies it got too “cozy” with the FAA, claiming it was not a “kissy-kissy” relationship.

FAA/Airline Redux: One of the U.S. presidential contenders released a statement calling the FAA’s approach to policing the airlines “troubling”. I’m not going to name names, but I will go out on a limb here and guess the others are probably on the same page here.

Heathrow Chaos, Supermodel Edition: Coming up next!

New York was the first state to pursue a passenger bill of rights that would require airlines to provide tarmac-stranded passengers with things like fresh air, food and water, and clean toilets. While there were some that hoped other states would follow suit, but the ATA had challenged the bill, and it went to court.

Today, “The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said New York’s new law interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier.” (from abcNews)

While the Court called the goals of the bill “laudable,” the Court has said that only the federal government can pass such regulations.

Keep reading for the ATA’s response to the ruling…

Are you one of those passengers whose knees are always smashed into the seat in front of you? Well starting next month, if you want more legroom on JetBlue, no problem!

Just fork over an extra $10 to $20.

And be one of the first in line: only about 6-rows will have this extra legroom, and JetBlue is betting they’ll all be snapped up.

Is it worth it? Keep reading…

The world’s biggest jet flew from Singapore to London’s Heathrow today. This was the plane’s first commercial European flight.

Up next? Godzilla goes to Tokyo (now that makes sense!).

Why do some call this Airbus A380, Godzilla?

Because it’s a monster of a plane, that’s why!

Keep reading, and I’ll explain (just click on “more”).

According to the latest figures on U.S. airlines from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Southwest Airlines is now officially Number One.

Yes, the scrappy, no-frills airline has finally dethroned American Airlines: in 2007, Southwest carried more passengers than any other airline (101.9 million passengers, compared to American’s 98.1 million).

American had topped the list for the past 5-years.

Unlike American, Southwest clawed its way to the top with no international flights, only domestic runs (America still ranks first among U.S. airlines for international passengers).

Meantime, 2007 was a record breaking year all around, as you’ll see if you keep reading…

From the classy corps at Consumerist comes word of an AirTran flight that, uh, forgot a few things…like some of their paying customers.

It seems a young couple flying from Baltimore to Boston learned their AirTran flight was going to be delayed. But, being savvy fliers, they knew enough to get to the airport on-time anyway (as we all know by now, “delays” can and do change).

When they got to the gate area, they learned, yes indeed, the flight was still delayed for 2-hours, so they walked down the airport corridor to get some wings (no pun intended).

They sat where they could hear AirTran announcements. Guess what they heard?

What IS it with poor Southwest, that they keep attracting attention-seeking hotties?

We all remember Kyla Ebbert (if not, click here). Now there are two new young women (Nisreen Swedberg and Sarah Williams, aged 18) who say Southwest “discriminated” against them– but why?

“I think they were just discriminating against us because we were young decent-looking girls…[The flight attendants] were like older ladies. We were younger. Who knows, they could have been just jealous of us because we were younger.” — the “youthful” Sarah Williams

My goodness! What prompted all this? Keep reading (and see the video!).

Starting in May, JetBlue will begin flying out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

The lower cost carrier will add 3-flights a day between LAX and New York and one between LAX and Boston.

But, wait just a minute! Doesn’t JetBlue already fly out of Los Angeles??? Keep reading!

See Rick Seaney’s new column on ABCNews.com on merger mania!

The idea of free meals on an airplane should make us happy, right? After all, most in-flight food has been reduced to a bag of peanuts and the soft drink of your choice. Some airlines don’t even give you that for free (i know you all haggle to get the entire can), and those that offer full meals are fond of charging upwards of $10.

That said, there is something about JetBlue’s new free breakfast giveaway that rubs me the wrong way. The carrier has teamed up with Kraft, and together they will be serving 500,000 free breakfasts to JetBlue passengers. However, as with most things on the airlines these days, there is a catch…