Letters to the Editor
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AMR stock is up 7.63% today
That's pretty good for an airline that's not operating. I think AMR discovered that they can make more money not flying than flying, at least in the short run. Once you take money from people and then don't deliver any service and you don't have to pay salaries or spend money on jet fuel things can look pretty good for them. In this way, airlines operate like utilities. A flat predictable stable income stream more or less, and and stable expense stream. Just don't spend any money and your earnings look great. The old NYNEX phone company learned this 20 years ago when they went on strike and had their best quarter ever in the history of the company.
If I ran an airlines I'd take thousands of planes offline for 'inspections' too. What are people going to do? Complain?
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And as for bankruptcies?
Paramount. We need more of them. Let's do away with this insane notion that air travel is practical, useful or affordable for the vast majority of people. Let's reduce capacity by 50% and ratchet prices to the sky so that at least they can turn a buck. If that means millions of people can't fly? So what. It's not a right. At least then the people who can still fly will get somewhat more reasonable service. The airlines might even pretend to care what their passengers want and are willing to pay for. It would be the end of going NY Philadelphia DFW to get to Austin. It would be the end of hearing how a 30 hr layover is really a connecting flight.
And just think of the new industries that would spring up to support the TSA's new ventures in non airline travel.
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The FAA is to blame - where are these people in the media?
"The last large-scale accident involving a major U.S. carrier was that of an American Airlines A300 in November 2001. That was approximately 43 million flights ago."
Thank you.
Isn't it great how the media shows stranded passengers at American terminals complaining about how American is treating them? Like American had a choice? Last time I checked it was the FAA that demanded these missed, PREEMPTIVE inspections take place.
So obvious the ulterior motive here is to cover the FAA's ass by allowing the media imply negligence on the part of AA. Fear-mongering still alive and well.
We should be on our knees in praise and SUPPORT of airlines in this country. Fuel costs have DOUBLED, consumers are starting to curb spending, flight routes are becoming more competitive.
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free-market capitalism
The cognitive dissonance of US consumers (and the US media) never ceases to amaze. If you want the benefits of unrestrained competition and an FAA with a light hand on the regulation button (cheep fares, lots of flights to micromarkets, ridiculous flexibility in scheduling) you have to take the ups and downs of the business cycle, including the occasional major hiccup. If you happen to think air travel is a public service too important to be left to chaotic fluidity, if you want reliable guarantees about your travel plans, transparent communication, the best safety technology can achieve, then you have to take the regulatory systems and strong unions that can provide them. But in typical pre-apocalyptic style, we want to have our cake and fly with it too. No sympathy at all.
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I wonder...
I wonder if this current rash of FAA ballsyness is to get them off the backs of the carriers. All you have to hear is that the FAA is 'abusing their power' and you know that the fix is in...
Those poor airlines with their inept management and their golden parachutes while the majority of the workers get the 'golden shower' from management's boneheaded decisions...
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It's an opportunity
Run uninspected flights for less.
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What all this means
Just because it's been awhile since we've had a major crash doesn't mean all this missed maintenance wouldn't eventually catch-up with us--look at the housing bubble or any number of things that have spun out of control under the Bush Administration. The FAA wasn't doing it's job until Congress noticed. I was a bit shocked at the extent of American's problems, but it's all of a piece; under Bob Crandall, they were the airline that was proud of taking the tomato out of the sald and saving millions. The bankruptcy of marginal carriers isn't the end of the world and CEOs of large carriers have argued that there's overcapacity. The death of a customer service-challenged carrier like Delta or Northwest would not be the end of the world. OTOH, if the people running the airlines were more credible in terms of financial acumen, customer service, or safety, it would be easier to care what happens in the end.
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Aloha and April Fools Day
My husband and I were to take our return leg to Oahu on an Aloha airlines flight on 4/1, the day after they ceased all operations.
They announced it on the news on 3/30. Luckily, we were not depending on them to get back to the mainland, but boy, that was an inconsiderate and crappy way to inform your customers. While on hold with my cc company to dispute 1/2 the charge, the customer service rep was saying he's been handling Aloha calls all day and that people's weddings were being ruined, etc...
The joke on me was that I picked Aloha over Hawaiian airlines because I thought the older airline was to be more trusted.
Happy April Fools!
And Patrick, can you please riddle me this? Why are there no clocks in airports, ever? It drives me nuts!!!
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Nothing to say about Heathrow T5?
While hundreds of flights were cancelled in the US, several hundred (I think) more were cancelled from and to the brand new, British Airways flagport, Heathrow Terminal 5.
I know it's a baggage thing and not an airplane thing, but with air traffic still growing, is it not worth a mention that mundane support services such as baggage handling, ticketing, people moving and local transport are as vital, if not safety critical, to airlines as the planes and crew?
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Nice perspective with numbers...
"The last large-scale accident involving a major U.S. carrier was that of an American Airlines A300 in November 2001. That was approximately 43 million flights ago."
Why is that never mentioned in the mainstream press? It's an amazing statistic.