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    • Are Legacy Costs Really American Airlines' Biggest Problem? [view article]
      The blame can be shared by all.
      We have airline managements with boards of directors who say they look out only for the 'shareholder.' In reality, they only look out for themselves. Managers and CEO's hop from airline to airline to wherever will pay them the most. Lower level managers (who only stay at a company long enough to get their ticket punched on their resumes) make short term, short sighted budgetary decisions that hurt the employees and the company in the long run. The frequent flyer program started by Bob Crandall is a perfect example of a great idea initially that has turned into absolute nightmare for the airlines to manage. Frequent flyer programs helped out American early, but now just pisses their customers off when they find they can't use them when they want to. Ever tried to get from the mainland to Hawaii on a frequent flyer ticket?
      The employees are to blame (along with management). Management is unwilling to reward employees in the good times and labor is unwilling or inflexable enough to give up gains when times are bad. In the late 90's, Northwest pilots went on strike for 13 days over a what would turn out to be shabby gains. Management caused the loss of $1.8B in revenue and lost customer goodwill over a contract that would have cost the company $550M over the life of the contract. On the flip, it took bankruptcy proceedings to get those same Northwest pilots to give up 15% initially (later a total of 45% after bankruptcy) to bring expenditures in line.
      The government is to blame for flooding the market with seats in the post 9/11 aviation world. If government would have followed its own laws in abiding by the Deregulation Act of 1978, United and USAirways would have gone chapter 7 instead of chapter 11. The subsequent 23% loss of capacity would have enabled more financially stable carriers like Delta, American, and Northwest from filing or threatening to file bankruptcy papers. Instead, the flying public benefited from $99 New York to LA fares while the airlines were left with major losses. Throw in its insufficient funding and idiotic planning for upgrading the national aerospace system and its inability to regulate airport arrival and departure slots and the whole system gets gummed up.
      The media is to blame. Its sensationalistic reporting of how terrible the legacy carriers are and how little darlings like Virgin, JetBlue, and Southwest can't do any wrong (even SWA's $10M fine was glossed over in the press) convinces the public that it is the legacy carriers fault for everything. In reality, the legacy carriers are just making things work with what's been given to them. They have to overschedule airport slots with CRJ's and small props to preserve them, lest the airport authorities give up those slots. Anyone remember how American and United voluntarily gave up slots at ORD a few years back to ease congestion. As soon as they did that, port authorities awarded slots to JetBlue and AirTran to 'increase competition.'
      The general public is to blame. When it comes to new airports, NIMBY is the word. Not in my back yard. And the airports we do have are an embarassment and in disrepair. New York City is supposed to be the apple of this countries eye. If you've ever passed through LaGuardia, especially the Delta concourse....looks like a third world airport. I've been to airports in Africa that look better.
      The general public also treats the airlines like public transportation instead of the high tech transportation system it should be. People show up looking like slobs instead of the well dressed folk of 30 years ago. The wipe their snot under the seats, leave dirty diapers in seat back pockets and treat those safety professionals called flight attendants like dirt. Then they have the audacity to yell at an employee who's been on his/her feet for 13 hours with 4-5 hours of sleep the night before who's also had their pay cut by 30%+ in the last three years. And they stand and brag about how they saved $5 on their ticket through screwtheairlinefare.co...
      In the end, remember the one thing your mother should have taught you...."you get what you pay for!"       May 26 12:17 PM
    • Warning to Airlines: Flight Instructor Shortage Could Create Long-Term Problems [view article]
      Why would any intelligent teenager....spend $80,000 on a four year degree, another $50,000 for an airline transport pilot certificate, only to take a job that starts at $18,000/year....with little upside salary potential? I wouldn't want anyone with that level of judgment as the captain of my airplane.
      My son wanted to follow me into the aviation career field. After watching what happened to my salary, my pension, and my medical benefits in the last three years, he wanted no part of it.
      He's choosing to be a doctor instead.       Apr 02 11:40 PM
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