Airport traffic looks soft

Total traffic at LAX fell 1.7 percent in January, to 4.7 million passengers. The domestic side saw a nearly 3.9 percent drop, while international activity was up 3.7 percent. Ontario was up 2.2 percent, John Wayne was down 5.9 percent and Long Beach was down 3.6 percent. It'll be a while before the February numbers are out, though the individual carriers report a mixed bag for the month, with United down a bit and American increasing 2.5 percent. A slowing economy is no doubt behind the lower numbers, but international travel remains strong - helped along by a weakening dollar. In its annual aerospace forecast, the FAA now expects a 2.9 percent increase in traffic for fiscal year 2008, which is down from the initial forecast of 4.2 percent. Next year should be better.