BlogHer - Pity the Poor Airlines - Comments

Come on, guys...

zurika — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:39:26 -0500

I'm sure if the tables were turned, the airlines would totally have our backs.

Oh, wait...

-Jul

http://www.zurika.com

Not only the airlines

Pam — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:04:08 -0500

The airlines are the only industry that gets a federal bail out,
doesn't learn from it's business mistakes, only to cry for another
federal handout/bailout?

Actually, I believe the automotive industry does this too. But yes, they are not a federal agency, don't want regulation, and should be subject to market factors.

Nerd's Eye View

I Want to Send the Airlines My Own Letter

Condo Blues — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:16:01 -0500

I got the letter from one of the airlines and I really wanted to send them one of my own. I'd tell them that their outdated business models, nickel and diming their customer to make up for their shortfalls only to endure terrible customer service is where their problems lie.

The airlines are the only industry that gets a federal bail out, doesn't learn from it's business mistakes, only to cry for another federal handout/bailout? I say treat the airlines like the private businesses that they are and if they go belly up, so be it. Although I would hate for anyone to lose their job, I think that's the only way the mess of an airline industry can be fixed. Scrap what isn't working, don't repeat past mistakes, and start over.

Why don't decorating and DIY projects always work out like they do on TV? Condo Blues http://condo-blues.blogspot.com/

Ahh, the vaunted "marketplace wisdom" hits the airlines

Seafarer — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:14:25 -0500

I am just stunned that after insulting us with poor, dismissive service, the airlines have the nerve to come crying for help to their customers, who are also wrestling with high fuel prices (largely caused by escalating worldwide demand for a finite petroleum-based resource, not "oil speculators.")

Amtrak and Greyhound, this is your moment. Don't blow it.

Sheila Scarborough

Family Travel: See The World With Your Kids

Got the letter

Maria Niles — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:09:01 -0500

From 3 or 4 airlines - I've lost count. And I absolutely did not participate. The idea that oil prices are all about speculators is ludicrous. But even if I was inclined to believe that explanation I still wouldn't support the airlines request.

Their business model has been bad long before the current run up in oil prices, if anyone needs to be reigned in with regulation it's the airlines themselves, and it's increased worldwide demand that is the main driver high oil prices and we need to accept the reality that it is a declining natural resource and we need to find ways to move to renewable and sustainable energy sources. Cheap gas is not a reality and not a right.

Plus all the reasons you mention. :)

And can I just say that I love, love, love that you read the initiatives before signing the ballot petitions! I've stopped signing them just because the process has gotten so ridiculous that literally anything can get on a ballot. The people who get paid to collect the signatures just tell you "It's for ponies for all" and people sign. Grrrr!

ConsumerPop Marketing
PopConsumer (Politics, Current Events & Links)
Beyond Help (Music, TV & Pop Culture)

Pity the Poor Airlines

Pam — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:53:16 -0500

Did you get one? I didn't - yet, but I've read about it everywhere. It's an "open letter" from a coalistion of airlines asking passengers to contact Congress to... oh, no they didn't! Did they ask for government regulation?

According to the airlines, speculators are to blame for high oil prices, and should be squelched. --Capitalism Magazine

The article in Capitalism Magazine - and this discussion in Slate dives deeper into the economics of what the airlines are complaining about - and no one is buying, Consumerist reprints the entire letter in full and hands it to their commenters. There is a nod to speculation as a problem, but many of the comments are exactly as sympathetic as you might think.

The airlines need my help? I'll refer them to my customer service line - they've been trained to handle these sorts of annoying complaints. Maybe some gas vouchers or a free fill-up at a future date (subject to terms and blackout dates) would help and get them out of my hair...

Treat me respectfully, don't keep me hostage on the plane, etc., and then raise your fares. I can deal with higher prices, but I can't deal with being treated like I'm your property once I buy a ticket or board a plane.

Travel advocate Chris Elliot is predictably impatient with the whole thing. He takes the letter apart on Tripso

Translation: We’re asking the government and you, the taxpayer, to help us. But we pray to God that no one sees the extreme irony of an industry that has resisted any kind of government regulation and has taken its customers for granted, asking for help.

Upgrade also takes a shot at the letter and provides a link to the Economist's take on the pitch.

"Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices…"

It’s a smidge more complicated than that, guys. War in Iraq and Afghanistan, mortgage meltdown and uptick in foreclosures, trade deficits, currency devaluation, bloated consumer debt, runaway derivatives markets… But anyway…

Timothy Noah, also on Slate, is similarly suspicious and annoyed that the airlines are asking him for help.

Do me a favor, United, AirTran, and all the others. Stop whining about "disclosure" and "transparency" until you're ready to cough up a little yourself. In the meantime, Delegate Norton, I can't help noticing that you sit on the House aviation subcommittee. Think about introducing a bill sometime to end the airlines' ticket-pricing games.

From No Budget Travel, come this response:

So we are to believe it’s not your flabby, outdated business models, your exorbitant executive benefits, your slow sacrifice of everything resembling service, your unmotivated, underpaid, overworked ground staff, crews and pilots, your failure to make capital investments, your mismanagement of resources, your lack of foresight, or your unwillingness to raise prices that has lead to this industry crisis in the face of higher fuel costs? Nor that crumbling flight-control infrastructure, overburdened hubs or even exorbitant airport charges are having a negative influence? Rather that your problems lie, in fact, in traders’ offices far away from the tarmac you’re jetting from every single day?

I'm with Upgrade on this issue - things are a bit more complicated than traders playing the markets. And I'm troubled too, because wow, I don't know much about how economics works and I fear that it's easy to sway uneducated and incurious fliers with a credible sounding email full of rhetoric that obfuscates the facts.

As services decline and rates go up, travelers - and those working for the airlines - are increasingly frustrated. The airlines has consistently balked against any kind of regulation - Passenger's Bill of Rights, anyone? This call for government action smells like a thinly disguised bail out, like a business subsidy which American consumers have been called to back in a plea that is difficult to understand and doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

It's an election year and there are lots of folks standing on the corner with clipboards gathering your signature. This is a lot like that. You know what? I don't sign those things unless I've done my homework and read the full initiative, which I do actually bother to do. I go home and read up. This one matters - we love to travel and sure, I'd like cheaper flights. But my homework hasn't turned up convincing evidence that I should support this. I haven't seen bus lines calling for an end to oil speculation. Or the railways. Are trucking and shipping companies making the same call? I don't know.

Airlines calling for government regulation? Are you kidding me? I've got some airline related things I'd like to see regulated...

Did you get the letter? Did you participate in the call to Congress? If so, why? Or why not?