Airlines finally climbing? Cashing in on the airline industry's good-news/bad-news story

NEW YORK -- For most of 2008, the words "beleaguered" and "airline" went together like "chocolate" and "cake." Could things get better in 2009?

For sure, it's been an up-and-down year for the airlines. High fuel prices forced huge losses and brought back those so-familiar whispers of bankruptcy. Then the recession slammed business travel and tourism, yours and mine.

Grim stuff, right? But now, guess what -- fuel prices came back to earth. Never thought I'd see so much so fast, though. And really, the whole fuel thing forced the airlines to take big steps to become more efficient, cut flights, use efficient aircraft, and to cut other costs. You folks out there paying for baggage and eating Ritz crisps for lunch on jam-packed planes know just what I mean.
Still, it's become a buyers market. The Travel Industry Association predicts a 1.3% drop in 2009 leisure travel. The airlines are tuning up their marketing machines, and there are deals to be had if you have the dough. Here are some favorite ways to find them:

• Get on the mailing list. Sign up for "Ding", like Southwest Airlines' alert service for special fare deals. Most airlines have an e-mail service, like United's "e-Fares." They're easy to sign up for and give short work breaks through the day.
• Lock in on the latest industry news. If travel is big for you, you should keep up with travel news. Journalists and industry specialists watch the deals; you can tap the network. I like USA Today's travel news summaries, both in print and online. The Travel Deals page at bestfares.com isn't bad either.
• Track the trends. You more analytical types will like the latest feature on the more popular travel search engines. Graphs show the latest trends, and even predictions of what's to come for airfares to your chosen destination(s). Get the latest fare and buy, or not, recommendation on MSN's Farecast or Kayak. I like to watch New York-Denver. So for mid-January, Farecast shows a $234 round trip on American (nice!) and advises "buy now" with an 80% chance of a $50 increase. Cool.

 
While talking about "buying" travel, I also think this year's power dive ironically may have put airlines back on the radar as investments too. They've learned to fly in the worst weather, so to speak, so could any good news finally lead to profits?

They've learned to market their product better. Modest fees for forward-cabin seats and priority boarding for business travelers makes more business sense than charging four times the base airfare for a first- or business-class seat. (Although, don't get me wrong, I don't like the new baggage charges). JetBlue offers Internet services and even a new way to order food for delivery into the gate area at major airports. They've also learned to sell through new channels, like gift cards or as premiums for large nonprofit donors.

Sure, it's tough to invest in any business that can control neither its costs nor its prices. But when I see a Southwest Airlines at eight bucks, and even a JetBlue
at $6 and change, I start to wonder -- is there blue sky ahead?

You can put an investment "watch" on the airline industry -- and the larger travel industry -- through the "Travel Stock Market" page of the recently launched WeSeed. Sign up, fasten your seat belt, and enjoy the flight. Visit WeSeed.