Airlines continue to tighten their collective belts as demand for flights steadily drops nationwide. Even with the recent decrease in oil prices, increased baggage fees, and third-quarter capacity cuts, the picture still looks fairly grim for the industry. Delta and United are considering more layoffs and more capacity cuts, Southwest is holding off on previously planned expansions, and AirTran is cutting domestic capacity 3 to 7 percent. However, lonely optimist US Airways CEO Doug Parker is predicting a resurgence in travel demands as early as January.

Remember when travelers complained about airplane food, yet scarfed it down anyway? Now, most complaints revolve around the absence of airplane food -- or at least the absence of free airplane food. Airlines are on the ropes due to high fuel prices, and they're sticking it to customers in turn. Time.com has a brief rundown of the cheapest airlines, and I'm not talking about ticket prices. JetBlue's charging for blankets and pillows now, and US Airways just started levying fees for the simple, humble inflight (nonalcoholic!) beverage. On the plus side, econo-line Southwest doesn't charge for its famous peanuts (yet), and Virgin America still lets you check one bag for nothing. As for the most cash-strapped airlines, soon they'll charge for lifejackets in the unlikely event of a water landing.