Higher Fares or Lower Margins?

In a recent interview with Airline Business magazine the president of Emirates Airlines, Tim Clark said: "The stubbornness of the oil price is giving us concerns about the bottom line. As the rate of growth of our profit has fallen as a result of the oil price, we must [look at our costs]... [Emirates set] some fairly stiff parameters" for the Emirates management team with regard to reducing costs, looking for cuts of 5-8 per cent.

If oil prices continue to increase who will be more subject to the pinch, customers with higher fares or shareholders with reduced margins? Are there alternative methods of cost management and increasing revenues that businesses should be looking into? One could argue this economic situation bodes well for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner and for various other customer facing technologies.