The ever changing face of the Airline Industry

Having worked for over 25 years in the Airline Business I have seen many changes, one thing that has not changed much in all that time believe it or not is the Base fare of a ticket, this is the amount the Airline receives after charging for and paying the numerous Federal county and state taxes and fees.
Imagine gas was under one dollar back then and Jet A aviation fuel was $10 per barrel now its over $100. Of course this is hard to understand because the passenger has seen increases in the Fares, this is because of the increased Taxes, Fuel surcharges and Security fees implemented since 911.
To survive and Fund for the future over the past couple of years the industry has found other ways to up their revenue mainly the so called add ons in charging for Bags, Ticketing fees, Meals, extra leg room for the premium seats such as Exit rows etc, not a popular choice but if you consider that necessity is always the mother of invention so this was conducive to their survival. Other ways the Airlines have found their survival mode is with the constant mergers taking place within the legacy carriers, the latest being Continental and United making the new company the largest Airline in the world.
Customer service has diminished as Automation has taken over from making a reservation to the check in process, and this will continue further as Boarding the Aircraft will soon be handled by technology rather than Personnel. However as more people travel by Air each year this seemingly less personal service will in fact increase in efficiency and will ultimately provide more proficient service and opportunities for the Airlines to lower their fares for competition reasons.
The new Dream liner Aircraft Boeing 787 is soon to debut in the US not only makes for a more comfortable ride but is more friendly to the environment and consumes far less Fuel than the current fleet of Aircraft out there, this too will afford the Carriers to be more competitive with their fares in the future.
So the ever changing Look and feel of the Commercial Aviation Industry continues to take two steps forward and one step back but eventually will find its equilibrium between Customer Service and Value for money, which is more than I can say for many other industries.