2009 is when the the effects of decreased consumer spending will really be felt. Food prices are up by 9%, gas and electric bills are up by 35% and 9% respectively (this varies between providers).
The demand for flying is still there and will be because traveling is second nature now, as it wasnt 15 years ago.
People may be continuing to spend on air travel at the moment but as i've said before, surveys suggest many currently consider it a neccessity and not a luxury, something that the poster seems to agree with in the above quote. However with average fuel bills set to rise anywhere up to £400 (it's claimed) with further increases predicted in January, once the fuel bills come through in 2009 it will bring home to people how much the cost of living is really going up and continuing to rise. Non genuine necessities will soon become lurxuries once more and demand will fall off just as quickly as it appeared along with any predicted need for pilots.
It's the beancounters job to take advantage and plan ahead for anything positive that the market brings but be assured, the good ones will also have a contingency plan for any down turn, but unlike their plans for expansion, they tend not to be so vocal about their contigencies though as it's bad for buisness. You need to start looking to the medium to long term and not to what's directly ahead.