As penny-pinchers hover, Business trips rebound

　　Some airlines, after a long period of cutting capacity, are now cautiously adding seats to accommodate the growth in demand. Delta, for example, said in October that its fourth quarter capacity would be up 3 to 5 percent domestically and 10 to 12 percent internationally.

　　Wall Street loves hearing that airlines are holding the line on capacity because it means that supply and demand are balanced in favor of the supplier. But since January, according to a recent report by the International Air Transport Association, worldwide airline capacity “has entered the market at a faster rate than demand.” Airlines have been rushing to assure stock market analysts that they still have the demandsupply equation under control.

　　Meanwhile, companies are alarmed by indications that travel costs are rising, even as improved economic conditions argue for sending more employees out on the road. Next year, according to the American Express Global Business Travel Forecast released last month, “pricing power will swing back to air and hotel suppliers for the first time in two years.”

　　For business travelers, of course, this all means more lectures from corporate travel managers about saving money. As the American Express report put it, companies need to reexamine cost control tactics to guard against the expected “significant rate increases” next year.

　　According to the annual Business Traveler Survey just released by the consulting company Deloitte, 24 percent of respondents plan to take more business trips next year and an additional 56 percent expect to take at least as many as in 2010. They’re on a tighter rein, too. Half said they were now required to obtain preapproval for business trips. Nearly a quarter said they were now staying at cheaper hotels.

　　Now, those of us who have been around this rodeo for a while have seen this particular event many times. Corporate travel managers wail that costs are soaring, and they demand compliance with new or old, but always strict, travel policies—or else.

　　But as business conditions improve and the need to travel becomes compelling, many business travelers push back and say, in effect, “Whaddya mean I have to save money by connecting on that crummy airline through Chicago and Houston to get to my destination in Los Angeles, where you expect me to stay at some cheap hotel that’s an hour’s drive from my meeting?”

　　So we’ll listen to the lectures and travel with our usual fiscal prudence. But we can take heart in a statistic released by the International Air Transport Association. Pennypinching aside, international premium travel in firstand businessclass was up 12.1 percent in September.

　　As they say at the rodeo, Yippee!

　　1. What can we infer from paragraph one?

　　A. Some airlines are benefiting from the improved economic conditions.

　　B. Some airlines are trying to balance the demand and supply.

　　C. Some airlines have been cutting down the price for a long time.

　　D. Some airlines have provided accommodation for their passengers.

　　2. According to a recent report by the International Air Transport Association,_____.

　　A. airlines have supplied more seats than actually demanded

　　B. airlines have responded to the demand at a fast speed

　　C. airlines have relied on stock market analysts to enter the market

　　D. airlines have had the demandsupply equation under control

　　3. Companies are facing the problem of __________.

　　A. more business trips

　　B. higher travel expenses

　　C. shortage of funds

　　D. revision of cost control tactics

　　4. The statement “They’re on a tighter rein, too” in paragraph five means __________.

　　A. they must reduce their business trips, too

　　B. they must save their own money, too

　　C. they are also affected by the new situations

　　D. they are also under strict control

　　5. In the last two paragraphs, the author implies that _____________.

　　A. employees have to travel with their usual fiscal prudence

　　B. airlines will benefit from the increase of international premium travel

　　C. the statistic released by the International Air Transport Association is authoritative

　　D. companies may invest more to make business trips more pleasurable for employees