Saywhat, what you just said has been on my mind for quite some time, and you ht the nail even harder than Flyer14. This Nationwide crisis is temporary, but the oil prices are not.
With expected figures of over $200/barrel, things in the aviation world is going to change forever. The times are changing, and very rapidly.
Whilst I think in the short term, things will continue to boom (well, in the Middle and Far east for now), in the future I see Airlines canceling orders of new aircraft, and exchanging older aircraft for newer more efficient ones, as well as getting rid of some of their fleet. And that means more and more pilots will be filiing the market.
This does not bode well for us aviators, as things will be much tighter than it is now.
It is exactly as you said, less planes, more full, more of the time. Businessmen will rather use technology to do meetings, oversea vacations will become a luxury of the rich, people would rather take the train, or travel by road than pay the higher prices airlines will have to charge to cover costs, and aviation will suffer tremendously.
I hope my dim views of the career I love is somewhat unfounded, and that things will continue on the same trend, but at the same time I am very worried about what the future holds.