Hello everyone! The last issue of PlaneBusiness Banter for 2014 is now posted.

We are talking about a lot of things this week — labor, oil prices, dropping fares in DFW, the Business Travel News Corporate Airline Survey, our trip to Atlanta to present to the Delta Air Lines Corporate Sales year-end event, the BTN Hall of Fame dinner in New York last week, the arbitration award involving the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and American Airlines, the latest update on negotiations between the airline and its pilots, and oh…so much more.

Unfortunately it was not that good a week for airline stocks — after Spirit Airlines spooked the industry with its less-than-expected traffic report last week. While the airline said it was thought the industry might be moving to a “price based on fuel and not demand model” most analysts claim this is not the case.

But one thing is clear. Fares are dropping sharply in the DFW area, as capacity has ballooned — the result of the demise of the Wright Amendment, upgauging of service by Delta into Love Field, and new service from Virgin America out of Love Field.

We also have our signature holiday column this week — our letters from airline CEOs to Santa, the latest DOT numbers, and a really terrific guest column that follows up on the recent column on the American re-banking of its MIA hub by PlaneBusiness Contributing Editor Brett Snyder.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays….and Happy New Year!

PlaneBusiness Banter will return on January 12!