Fees going up, Airline travel down - Well DUH!

Let me see, when Airfare was cheap and Security was "lax", people traveled a lot. They enjoyed going places for the Holidays, and businesses were more likely to send people out for training and other Business needs...
But then the Airfare started to go up. Not just the airfare, but the whole thing...fees, fees and more fees...
Then the Airlines started to reduce services. The stopped giving out the "good treats" and many airlines canceled "in flight meals" for some of the mid-range flights. THEN they changed their flight schedules and removed many of their routes to save money.
And then 9/11 and all the added security and hassle. Now, instead of arriving an HOUR early for your flight, just enough time to check your bags, get your ticket, and hit the gate...you have to arrive 3 hours early.
It takes about 5 hours to drive from Salt Lake City to St. George in Utah. If I fly, it would still take me about 5 hours. In my truck at about 18 mpg, it would cost about $110 for fuel to drive down, and a one way ticket will cost even more.
WHY WOULD I FLY?

Anyway, it looks like the News Pundits are trying to draw some kind of conclusion about all this...
This is from KSL (Channel 5 in Utah):

Airline travel down, fees going up
September 25th, 2009 @ 1:35pm
By Mary Richards

SALT LAKE CITY -- Airline travel may be down, but the airlines have raked in $3.8 billion in the first six months of this year, just from fees.

Are you KIDDING ME? Just in FEES alone?

KSL Travel Show host Doug Wren says ... Revenue ... is up 276 percent in April, May and June alone ...

*W*H*A*T*??!!??!!

Other sources of income for the airlines include fees for canceling or rebooking flights, assigning seats, flying with pets or sending an unaccompanied minor...

I guess the IDIOTS in the Airlines don't understand...SUPPLY and DEMAND...
When there is no demand, you go out of business...you don't generate SUPPLY by having ridiculous prices and raising them when times get tough...I mean, am I making sense here? If people don't fly, you figure out WHY they don't fly, and you FIX IT...
People don't fly right now because, as I mentioned above, it is just too much hassle and too expensive...
SO, instead of lowering prices and making it easier to fly, they increase the regulations and hassle, and RAISE their prices and fees!

Oh, wait...this is the airlines we are talking about...
They don't have to worry...the Government will Bail Them Out!

Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this?

(This Excerpt is provided for informational, educational, and discussion purposes only. It is Copyright "KSL", for the full article search KSL's web site or Google with the title of this article)