Expensive fuel makes less-than-full flights an economic disaster for the airline. Airlines are cancelling less-full flights or moving smaller aircraft onto those routes. This means you'll have to plan farther ahead for your flight, as there won't be any surplus of seats. Using your mileage club and online seat-selection tools becomes more critical if you don't want to be stuck in a bad seat all day. The lack of available capacity will make discounts rare.

Over the past few weeks carriers all over the globe have been taking the scissors to their networks, with the US majors making the most dramatic cuts so far. "It is the first thing to do, we must apply jointly and collectively a discipline [on capacity]," said Jean-Cyril Spinetta, chairman of Air France-KLM, speaking during the IATA Chief Executive Forum in Istanbul. "We at Air France-KLM are looking at adapting ­capacity for the winter season and summer 2009. But as an ­industry we have to show strict discipline. If not it will be a disaster for the whole industry."

More of the quoted story at FlightGlobal.