The 2% Solution

The year 2011 brought us many headlines with percentages - especially references to the Occupy Movement's 1% and 99%. The percentages were cited so often, they ceased needing explanation. Like the numbers themselves, the groups and ideas they represent were nowhere near average. They were the extremes that reflected the mood, the year and our thought process quite well.

2012 is also bringing us lots of percentages. With primaries and an upcoming presidential race, there are polls on top of polls with percentages that change rapidly. Percentages reported today are often forgotten tomorrow, and no percentage is etched into our minds like 1% and 99% were last year. But there is a percentage emerging that may become 2012's poster child: 2%. It's the rate economists predict our GDP will increase and the expected growth in North American passenger volume.

Nothing to get too excited about.

Yes, this could become the Year of Boring, even Predictable. But that's not a bad thing, especially given the wild ride we've had the last couple of years. Even in an election year, out-there viewpoints aren't dominating our political scene the way they did in 2010. Everything and everyone seem to be drawing in from the edges toward the center.

The shift is certainly reflected in our economy. Absent is talk about a complete crash or another Great Depression. Unemployment continues to meander downward. The worst of housing prices and starts is over.

What does it all mean for the airport sector? For starters, a four-year FAA reauthorization provides predictability. We know what we have and we know what we don't have. In aviation, like our overall economy, it's time to build ...slowly. We survived the Great Recession, and we need to move forward.

At the end of the day, we're still in the world's greatest industry, and it continues to offer more upside than most. Long-term trends show that people and goods will continue to travel by air, and they'll do so in increasing numbers.

While 2% may not be sexy, it's a lot more tangible and positive than the baggage associated with the 1and 99 percenters.