Even with soaring fares for flights from the Brazilian cities to the Big Apple, everyone, it seemed, was either going or coming from New York.
Hacking holes in it would be a calamity for the city, but if the pessimists are right it could end up being that or soaring fares.
The selloff also comes at a time of debate about private versus public ownership of the railways, with criticism of soaring fares and poor performance by many franchises.
Much of the cost comes from a regional network on which each passenger is subsidised by 31p a mile, while commuters pay soaring fares elsewhere to stand on their way to work.
Last August, however, after six months of declining revenue from business travel amid complaints about soaring fares, major airlines suddenly dropped the requirement on a relative handful of selected and highly competitive routes clustered in main hubs.
The year's top story in business travel was, of course, the record number of delays and cancellations on commercial airlines -- a situation so bad that it practically obscured the runners-up, soaring business fares and deteriorating airline customer service.
Many households in the UK are starting to feel the economic squeeze as job losses, pay freezes, soaring train fares, energy price wars, housing slumps and rising food prices take their toll in austerity Britain.
The enormous savings generated could and should then be reinvested in rail infrastructure, and to reduce the soaring cost of fares.
As Labour will highlight in parliament today, not only are energy bills, childcare costs and rail fares soaring, but wages are stagnant and more than three million people want to work more hours but are unable to do so.
"Boris Johnson has hit people hard with soaring annual, above-inflation fare rises that have seen a bus fare rise by half, whilst cutting police numbers at a time of rising crime.
