As we are constantly being told ‘this is the age of the mobile classes.’ The last decade has seen airports and airplanes getting bigger, while passenger numbers and US visa applications move in a steady upward curve.

With the news this week that UK company British Airways are to axe 1,700 jobs and a report by the Australian Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans, saying that numbers of people applying and getting Australian visas are down, are these not conflicting reports of the state of travel in this ‘mobile age?’

As you would expect with the advent of people being able to afford to travel more freely and a increase in applications for US visas, there has been a explosion in companies all competing for their custom.

With the new breed of budget airline, big companies such as BA have had to see their once monopolized market become highly competitive. Because of this, company’s such as BA and others like American Airlines, were forced to diversify and set themselves apart from cheap choice airlines, they also didn’t have much choice, the new airlines were run much cheaply, because of this big companies were marketed as a better quality, more premium choice. The ramifications of which are being felt now as we continue in a economic downturn.

With this in mind it is no wonder a company such as BA have announced plans to cut costs.

The news that a large airline are cutting jobs and wages won’t be a popular one, especially since US visa applications remain steady, however, with the airline industry more competitive than ever and the economy as it is, you can expect more cuts and job losses across the board, as all the large ‘premium’ airlines struggle to cope with the ever increasing reality of passengers’ necessity to travel cheaply.