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…is often the most accurate. In July 2006, I reported that “the airlines are on the cusp of tremendous, long-term growth.” I first read of this in The Economist, a world class magazine of unbelievably good repute, several months before. Frankly, the article seemed so contrary to the “current wisdom” of the industry that it took me a few months to get up enough nerve to report the news. People actually laughed at me for being unwise enough to believe that stuff. In fact, I can’t remember a single person who believed it at the time.

Well, it is now a year later, and we know that some airlines made a profit last year for the first time in what seems like ages. Flights are full (so full that two different airlines recently paid me to get off of two different flights in one day).

So, The Economist got the growth part right, but what about the long-term part?

Well, another impeccable source, Forbes magazine, reported online late yesterday (March 13), that, “A UBS survey of 2007 airline schedules shows higher-than-expected growth of flights from the previous year.”

In other words, the good times are expected to roll on at least this year.

Interestingly, the subject of this Forbes article was really not about airline growth, but about how much such growth will help aerospace suppliers such as Goodrich and Precision Castparts. In fact, “shares of both companies rose on the news.”

Sounds good to me. I put a lot more faith in Forbes and stock purchasers than in any scuttlebutt gleaned from coffee-shop gossip within the industry.

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