Will there be any future for air travel with higher fuel prices?

Question

I am thinking about going to school to become a pilot but I am a little concerned that may be a bad idea with higher fuel prices. A few weeks ago I read an article and the writer seems to think that air travel will become a thing of the past because the days of cheap oil are gone. He thinks these high speed trains are the thing of the future. I know nobody can say what the future will bring for sure but I would hate to spend 5 years and $80,000 to become a pilot and then get stuck working for McDonalds. So what does everybody think? Is air travel going to be a thing of the past??

One other concern that I have is planes that fly themselves. How far away are we from planes that don't need pilots?

Thanks for any comments

Answer 1

there is no way air travel will become a thing of the past. Are they going to build a train track accorss the atlantic?? there is no way that is even possible! air travel will never become a thing of the past just because of rising prices, the only way it will is if some genius thinks of a faster, cheaper way, which trains are not!

EDIT: oohh yeah I like the idea of getting a job with a private jets charter company! that sounds really classy! when you are at a party the having a conversation comes up about jobs you can be like "oh I'm just a pilot for a private jets charter company"! it sounds really high rank!

Answer 2

High speed trains don't have the capacity to transport the many thousands that travel by air each day. As long as there is a need to get somewhere fast, there will be air travel. It may be expensive and the industry may be smaller, and that should figure into your analysis. But it won't go away entirely. The truth is, no one can give you an accurate picture of what the future holds for the airline industry, but it's a safe bet that it will find ways to cope.

Answer 3

Commercial planes already fly themselves. The pilot just takes off and lands.

And there will always be a demand for airlines. It's a lot faster flying from LA to NY than taking a trian that you would have to switch to get on another one. especially for international flights.

I would go for it.

Answer 4

It's not the high fuel prices that are keeping people away.....it's the Airport service that is.  The Counter help sucks.......they keep changing the rules on what you can/cannot bring......they practically strip search you......security lines take 12 years to get through....the TSA is understaffed and underqualified to do what they do....honestly I don't think these poor folks are trained well at all.......go for the Pilot's license man......get in with a charter company that has private jets.....there's always a call for those guys.

Answer 5

What are the alternatives? Drive a car or ride a bus? They use fuel in the same way.

If you need to go overseas, the alternative is being in a ship, and they also use fuel, and they take a couple of days to cross the Atlantic or the Pacific, instead of a few hours.

The only mean of mass transportation that is not dependent on petroleum is electric train, provided that the electrical power is not generated by a oil fired station.

There is a market for high speed train, but they are most likely limited to middle range travels (1000 km or less) and of course, need a dedicated track between every city pair that needs to be linked; and that is mighty costly.

Fuel price going up may mean people traveling less often, by all means. But at the same time, it will have an impact in the desire to develop alternatives, like synthetic fuel -- thermal polymerization for instance, could convert domestic garbage and agricultural waste into the equivalent of light sweet crude, for a price that is going to be less that the current price of a barrel of oil.

As for plane that fly themselves, even if it is possible, and some people may even consider desirable (within limit, the "Gimli Glider"incident would have resulted in loss of hull and possibly several deaths if there had not been a pilot on board who knew of a vacated airstrip he could reach with his out of fuel 767) knowing how much resistance there is to change methods and certification methods, no airframer will dare go that way first; the cost to certify would most likely be seen as prohibitive.

Answer 6

All travel becomes more expensive.  But air travel will still be among the most economical.  

Drive from LA to NY, and add up what the entire cost is.  Days of lost income, hotel bills, fuel, oil, accelerated wear on the vehicle, meal expenses--everything.