"Houston, we have a problem…"

Airlines. It's all a bit "hello Houston, we have a problem". You certainly know there is something wrong when the actual aircraft manufacturers start promoting the benefits of flying. Good and well done to Boeing that's what I say!

Shame that major carriers are not doing more, they appear to want all the wanabee carriers to steal their credence. Yes, its very easy (sic) for the low cost carriers to dominate or rather cream off profitably on some routes.

The international air passenger market place has been suffering with an over optimistic projection of increased traffic for many years, and too many operators have excess capacity; trying to offer too many routes, timings etc. It's nice to have a public service, but we have all come to realise that big does not mean cost effective.

The fall out will be massive. Certain routes and services may well disappear altogether unless subsidised by "National" carriers backed by their political friends. Meanwhile in the real world if it is not likely to be profitable it just will not take off.

Getting fare paying passengers back on board at a fair price is going to be the ambition we all hope for, the sooner the better. Rebuilding client passenger confidence is going to be an immense task that needs to start now, the Boeing initiative is a good start; who's next?

The current problems within the airline industry are being confounded by the redundancies and realignments at most of the world carriers. Most of the staff presumably are more worried about their own jobs and places in the industry than actively selling their services on. Too many rumours about deals, rebates and special offers (heard the one about Istanbul for £80?) and nothing materialising.

The business is out there, time to get properly motivated and get some! The airline that comes forward with a sense of purpose and a belief that they are not on the brink of collapse will be applauded.