Samantha Shankman

KLM is the first airline to put a live wait time on its social media pages, but its a feature that airlines serious about social customer service will quickly copy. Hopefully the competition means faster social responses for all flyers.

Travel companies slow to set up mobile functionality may be comforted by this news, but mobile usage will only continue to rise due to changing consumer habits and the growth of travel in emerging economies where mobile devices are more common than desktops.

Airlines worldwide are kicking themselves for not thinking of this endearing and digitally-impressive new ad. It shows that passengers can still expect creative marketing from carriers, if nothing else.

Gogo's reputation as the top in-flight wi-fi provider just received a serious setback. Satellite-based Wi-Fi will soon be the only accepted service as airlines work to compete for the best in-flight service.

Flyers have a choice between affordable airfares and comfortable seats, but achieving both is near impossible in air travel today.

The survey further confirms how important it is for travel companies to develop mobile functionality and tap into social media networks to engage travelers before, during, and after their trips.

Mobile booking is the way of the future and mobile-only startups with clean designs and fast-moving teams will soon find homes at online booking behemoths that know they need to be on travelers' smartphones in order to survive moving forward.

Besides the health issues involved with overwork, the U.S. tourism economy could benefit a lot more if Americans could take more vacations.