In these days of high fuel costs the major airlines are absolutely screaming about the cost involved and are frantically seeking ways to add revenue without hiking ticket prices. Charging for luggage, snacks, aisle seats, window seats – the list will eventually end up with pay toilets. Unfortunately for the airlines, nothing will work. The sooner they go away the better off the flying public will be. Southwest may well be the only survivor.
Back in the days of plenty, flying was fun. People were well behaved, dressed nice and were pleasant to be with for a trip. Airlines were a prestigious business and, thanks to government regulation, made a great return for their owners. I say thanks to regulations because the airlines were generally run poorly from a business standpoint. Salaries were generous and pensions and benefits were great.
Along came deregulation and the majors failed to adopt prudent business practices. Tickets were priced below cost and flying became similar to the old days on a bus. Ticket prices fluctuated from minute to minute and the odds were that no two people on a flight paid the same price. Costs remained high and revenue plummeted. Eastern, Pan Am, TWA and others – great aviation names – gone due to mismanagement and excesses spent by management for perks and benefits. The time had come for better managers.
Instead of improved management practices and managers the existing airline management looked at expenses and halfheartedly tried to reduce them. When that didn’t work, they brought in the legal hit men who suggested bankruptcy to break the employee contracts. That underhanded strategy did work but the underlying bad practices and bad managers remained.
Airlines, in the name of security, instituted ID checks. This was only a ruse to prevent people from reselling tickets. This so called security measure was exposed for the scheme that it really was on 9/11 and the traveling public has since been paying billions in money and days of lost time simply because airlines touted security but were really watching for the person who dared to buy a ticket from someone else.
Add higher energy cost and real security costs to poor management and you will get the result you expect. With the exception of a few well run airlines like Southwest and without massive government intervention, they will all go away and that really is a shame.
Geo.
