The situation is even worse than recent articles suggest; the airline industry is facing a perfect storm of serious issues.

There are actually fewer flights today than there were pre-COVID, even though overall demand is higher. More people chasing fewer seats has driven prices through the roof, with some economy tickets now costing more than first-class tickets from 2019.

Recent bookings, and especially international bookings, have accelerated dramatically. Despite contrary claims from the current administration, it turns out there really was a massive number of people waiting for the COVID test rule to go away before booking their vacations. And many of them want to take their international vacation before the end of the year.

Staffing shortages have hit every portion of the industry. Although pilots are the obvious mention (particularly due to vaccine rules and lost hours in 2020), ground crew members are also in short supply. Some airlines have had to get innovative with their hiring practices, such as creating new apprentice programs to train mechanics. Many physical airline jobs skew towards older generations and face losing waves of employees to retirement over the next decade.

Lastly, fuel prices have added another increase to already skyrocketing prices. Flights today are 50% more expensive than they were a mere 6 months ago, and ticket prices continue to climb. With demand for oil still increasing from the long-awaited return to normalcy, it's likely the cost of fuel will continue to drive increases in transportation expenses under current policy.