Are delays problematic? Or opportunities gained? As Fran noted in his blog, I could not help but wonder what I would do if I was one of the travelers stranded as a result of the volcanic ash. I have to believe if (and this is a big if) I had some flexibility as to when I had to be home, I would find an alternative port to disembark from and make an adventure out of the change of plans.

While I find the power to imagine exciting, the end result of all the canceled flights is another travesty for the travel and tourism industry. I heard on the radio that New York City restaurants, transportation and other related industries are losing a combined $250 million a day in revenue as a result of the canceled flights. Not to mention the astronomical losses to the airlines per day, ranging anywhere from $15-30 million per day, both for the major European airlines and for various carriers around the world.

Anyone who doesn’t believe in the power of travel and what it can do to stimulate or hurt an economy only needs to look at this past week as proof. We need to keep planes full and airports busy to help local economies and keep jobs in the marketplace. Hopefully, the test flights that showed no sign of damage from the volcanic ash will allow flight schedules to return to full capacity safely sooner rather than later.

— Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher