Rafat Ali

The low-cost carriers continue to take over the economy segment of the market in all possible ways around the world, and U.S. is now moving in line with the rest of the world.

Booking dot, oh yeah.

There is smart money riding on a lot of these trends, as food and beverage trends generally permeate through the larger travel industry and beyond, into popular culture.

While there is some value in TTG as the first weekly travel trade publication in the world, launched in 1953, digital hasn't been kind to the company or the sector is operates in. Hopefully this management structure gives it more flexibility to revive and thrive.

Digital rules, that's given, and things that are hyped, like rise of travel blogs and death of printed guidebooks, need more examination beyond the headlines.

What struck us is that most of these would not look out of place now, if they were filtered through the lens of Instagram, figuratively and literally.

With the U.S. airline seat occupancy at a record high and the airport and flying experience being what it is these days, these incidents are only on the rise, and flight crew is the first line of defense.

Health and wellness is increasingly being incorporated into the mainstream ecosystem of the travel industry, and larger trends are driving that.

Besides the seasonal factors, the macro picture is that U.S. airlines are cutting flights to improve efficiency, and that also means lower number of full time employees.