OK, so we are all trying to do our part to conserve fuel. Many of us are doing it because we want to do the right thing.  Many of us are also doing it because at over $4 per gallon and rising for a gallon of gasoline in the United States, we simply have no choice.  So we are planning out our errands and doing them all at once.  We are carpooling where possible.  We are driving less often and not as far.  We are not leaving our cars idling, not leaving the air conditioning on for long periods of time.  We are keeping our tires inflated to the right amount, getting lubes and oil changes and tune ups, as well as cleaning out our fuel injectors, driving the speed limit and using additives to make a tank of gas take us further.
As we hear about more things to try we are willing to try them to save money and to save fuel.

Many of us have not taken vacations because of high fuel prices.  We haven’t even taken vacations with semi-short drives because the gas is too expensive.  We are getting to be more careful when we shop because prices of food and other essentials are rising due to the fact that it costs more to transport everything to the grocery store.

Now there is yet another casualty of the fuel crisis.  In addition to airlines raising fares, canceling the number of flights, firing thousands of employees and charging for luggage (who is going to fly across the country without a change of clothes and other personal items?),  we are now at an all time low.  Several airlines have eliminated in flight entertainment.  That’s right.  No movies.  If you want to keep little Johnny or Jane occupied during a long flight, you had better bring a laptop, a portable DVD player or a portable game system.  You could bring crayons and books, to, at least as a backup. 

The airlines say that if they raise prices, charge for luggage and eliminate entertainment which adds weight to a flight and costs more in fuel, they might break even.  The question is: Don’t those laptops, portable DVD’s and other entertainment items that passengers bring on the flight weigh as much or more than the earphones and small built in screens?  

It will be interesting to see what the fuel crisis eliminates next.  Maybe it will be those overhead reading lights.  Keep abreast of what’s happening because you may need to bring flashlights on your next flight just in case you want to read!

Tags: airlines, conserve fuel, fuel, fuel crisis

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 8:28 am and is filed under Gas Prices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.