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Summary

On June 30, we issued the seventh in a series of periodic updates to our aviation industry performance report. The report graphically identifies trends in aviation demand and capacity, aviation system performance, airline finances, and service to small communities. The focus of the current edition was to highlight concerns related to system performance this summer, especially in key hub markets where new aircraft fleet mixes, expanded low-cost carrier service, and returning demand are likely to result in a level of congestion and delays that rivals the summer of 2000. The report also highlights the effect of rising fuel costs on both network and low-cost carriers. Finally, the report notes that air service in the nation's smallest communities has still not begun to rebound, in fact it has continued to decline while service has gradually increased in larger airports.