Newton's Third Law and the Airline Industry: By Lezah

I've recently been thinking a bit about the airline industry (I'll fill you in later) and its connection to Newton's Third Law - now, was that 'what goes up, must come down'? No! Newton's Third Law is that whole ' every action creates an equal and opposite reaction' blah blah blah thing.

Anyway, (here comes the explanation) I was thinking about the airline industry because my brother is employed in it - he coordinates jobs for a company that repairs and maintains planes for airlines large and small (I won't mention any names...). Now, after 9/11 there was a big curtailing of airplane travel which impacted the airline industry on a number of levels - there were many layoffs where my brother works and a lot of airlines actually ended up going out of business or into receivership as they had been hanging on by a shoestring prior to 9/11 already.

Cut-rate companies then popped up (should I be talking about saving money and airplane maintenance in the same blurb? is that wise?) - so many that they have already started putting each other out of business. Bring your own food, pay for your own drinks, we'll tell you a joke instead of showing a movie - you know what I'm talking about...

But... on the horizon comes the latest: luxury airline travel. Now this is not new: private Lear jets have been around forever (well, for a while, anyway). But it seems that more and more people are wanting something beyond what the regular airlines are prepared to offer these days.

Take, for instance, the lady who came into the used airplane lot down at the airport (yes, they do have such a thing). She seemed just like your conventional housewife, driving a minivan - but purchased, for cash, a full-sized jet to ferry her kids back and forth to school (they live in Vancouver and attend school in Toronto). Or the company that is catering to wealthy businessmen. My brother's company is busy outfitting jets for them that are decked out inside like hotel suites, with beds and computers and the whole nine yards.

So, from the bargain-basement, discount and cut-rate airlines popularized over the last five years, the eyes of the market have now rotated 180 degrees to the opposite end of the spectrum and flying hotels will soon be premiering at an airport near you...