Air travel is getting less convenient and more expensive-but there doesn't seem to be anything anyone can do about it.

Some of us have a fear of flying, while others hate the hassle of security checks and crowded flights. Investors are skeptical of the industry with good reason-it's often hard to find anything positive to say about airlines. And it's only getting harder.

Traveler trouble

Some people still enjoy plane trips because of the little perks-hot meals and peanuts, for example, or collecting frequent flyer miles for free upgrades to first class. The services we once took for granted are now changing, and not for the better.

Some airlines are already charging for meals that were formerly free, and soon even snack bags will be disappearing. Industry analysts say that airline miles are getting harder to convert into anything useful, and that the whole concept of rewarding frequent flyers is going away. The airlines just can't afford it.

Ticket prices are going up, and fewer flights are causing more crowded cabins. If you're looking for tickets to smaller markets like Fresno or Kalamazoo, you better hurry up before your favorite airline cancels another unprofitable service on its schedule. It's time to adjust our expectations of affordable, convenient travel to any point on the globe. There are, unfortunately, solid business reasons for that.

Investor woes

You might think that the airlines are rolling in money with these hefty ticket prices, fuel surcharges, and extra fees for simple snacks. You'd be wrong, though. Airlines are infamous destroyers of invested capital.

How do you build a small fortune in the airline business? Start with a big fortune. That old saw is only too true today, as smaller airlines fold up their wings, while the big ones are merging merely to stay alive. In mid-April, Delta and Northwest Airlines agreed to merge. And six American operators have filed for bankruptcy protection in the last five years.

It all started with rising oil prices that have tripled fuel costs over the last two years. Security measures taken after 9/11 aren't free, and the industry must deal with strong labor unions that drive up salaries for crew and support personnel. That's why the airlines are cutting every corner imaginable, inflating ticket prices by keeping planes on the ground, and adding new surcharges to the bill. It's not personal-it's survival.

Airlines as necessity

For all their problems, we still need our airlines. We've gotten used to zipping around the world, so to give that up would be difficult-especially since the Internet keeps shrinking the world in many other ways. Consumers, businesses, and governments alike just can't afford to let the industry die, so consumers will have to put up with higher prices for diminished services.

Will airline travel become an exclusive club where only the wealthy are welcome, or just an expensive version of mass-transit buses with wings? The answer is probably "a little bit of both." Everyone will just have to deal with that-like it or not.