Pilot Mike

What's Really Wrong With The Airline Industry - And Can It Be Fixed?

Airlines have been misoperated by their management and by their unions for decades. They are and have been ill prepared for any bubbles that interupt their normal services: fuel costs, weather, 9/11. Bubbles occur in many business' all the time but in the airlines case, a bubble disrupts cash flow and a bubble always bursts. The current bubble of fuel prices is not going away. Airlines are now in the dubious position that fare increases are the only option to correct the mess. The downside is for every $25 increase in fares, you will lose a family that was planning on taking flights. To make up for this loss, they increase the fares on business travelers. For each increase on business travel, regional flights start to lose passengers. It is a downward spiral. The only things an airline can do is to become more "user" friendly. User friendly unfortunately is an oxymoron in terms of the service a carrier gives. So there really is no exit to the downward spiral short of price protection provided on the backs of the US taxpayers similar to what occurs in foreign airlines.

The airlines are out of business and just dont realize it!