Success Quote by Gerard Arpey

Arpey’s line reads like a calm rebuttal delivered over the hum of bad headlines: whatever the quarter’s numbers, whatever the latest panic about airlines, people still want to get on planes. As a businessman (and, historically, an airline executive), he’s not waxing poetic about wanderlust; he’s shoring up confidence in a category that periodically looks fragile. The phrasing does quiet work. “I don’t think” performs modesty, a hedge that sounds reasonable even as it advances a firm claim. “A bit” is the real tell: an absolute in casual clothing. It’s meant to close the conversation, not invite debate.

The subtext is as much for investors and employees as for passengers. Aviation demand is treated here as a durable human habit - not a luxury that can be frightened off by fuel spikes, security scares, recession chatter, or service complaints. That’s a strategic stance in an industry addicted to reassurance, where perception can become its own economic force. If customers believe flying is in decline, routes get cut, prices change, and the decline becomes self-fulfilling. Arpey is trying to keep the story from turning.

There’s also a subtle reframing of what “popularity” means. It’s not about romance; it’s about dependency. Modern life has built-in assumptions of mobility - jobs, families, supply chains - and airlines sell access to that infrastructure. The sentence is a reminder that flying isn’t merely a product people like; it’s a system people have been organized to need.