Airline fares will increase next Monday by at least 10% and as much as 40% on some routes that will not be restored fully.
The tone of the press conference held at the DoT was one of both bitterness and shock as was that of sampled public opinion.
"I think I'll take the train."
"Computers? They always blame the computers. Who's really at fault?"
"They're just as bad as the oil companies. Something goes a little wrong and they jack up the prices."
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would also institute a series of preventative maintenance steps on other airplanes' computer systems to insure that such a global failure is never repeated.
Major domestic airlines announced they would try to lease addi- tional planes from other countries, but could not guarantee prior service performance for 3 to 6 months. Preliminary estimates place the cost of this debacle at between $800 Million and $2 Billion if the entire 737 fleet is grounded for only 2 weeks.
The Stock Market reacted poorly to the news, and transportation stocks dove an average of 27% in heavy trading.
The White House issued a brief statement congratulating the airline industry for its handling of the situation and wished its best to all inconvenienced and injured travelers.
Class action suits will be filed next week against the airlines and Boeing as a result of the computer malfunction. This is Scott Mason, riding the train.