Despite the best efforts of the airline industry, there are still several compelling reasons to avoid travel – especially for 2008. Scott McCartney reports in the Wall Street Journal, (subscription required) what he's been hearing from airline executives.

Here's a summary why I'll be doing more conferencing (Audio, Web, Video) this year  and maybe a few notes about why you should too:

Unreliable.

Bad weather affects every transportation network and airlines are particularly vulnerable because bad weather in Chicago or Dallas ruins the whole country.  For example, AMR and United had poor records of ontime arrivals in the period December 21 through January 5 – only 55% of AA and United flights arrived ontime, with more than 20% arriving 45 minutes or more behind schedule.

United canceled 7% of its schedule due to weather, 10.5% on Christmas Eve and 23% on Christmas Day.