Posted on 07/23/2010 2:38:49 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The U.S. airline industry is rebounding. For the sixth consecutive month, carriers brought in more money than they did last year.
"We are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel," says Dave Castelveter of the Air Transport Association, an industry trade group. "You know we have been faced with challenges like none other."
The industry was clobbered after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Then the global economy soured, and people stopped traveling. Fuel prices climbed to record levels.
In response, the airlines had to cut costs. They reduced the number of flights and slashed their payrolls. They began adding fees for things like food and luggage. Some airlines, like Delta and Northwest, even merged.
Passengers are now paying about 20 percent more for airplane tickets than they paid a year ago. And the number of passengers -– especially business travelers — who often pay higher fares is increasing.
Industry analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group says that with the demand for tickets quite strong, the airlines are in the driver's seat.
"The one thing you want … when numbers come roaring back as they are now is that seats are at a premium because you've cut so many of them," he says, "and therefore you have more pricing power and your profits go up."
This week, Delta Air Lines reported its largest quarterly profit in more than a decade. United and US Airways posted their first profits since 2007.
Some airlines are now beginning to order new planes and rehire workers. But, Aboulafia says, airlines will be very careful not to add too many new flights too quickly.
"They're going to be pretty reluctant to add a whole lot of capacity," he says. "That means that things are only going to get a little tighter for the consumer, a little more expensive."
So travelers may have to book early and shop more carefully.
Don't bank too heavily on those consecutive months airlines. You have now become a target of the socialists in this country. How dare you actually make money.
Alert the Tax Czar immediately!
I think a lot of companies are looking profitable due
to the reduced payrolls.
And, millions busting butt to keep their jobs.
I bet there is a bunch of unpaid overtime being put in.
Guess they gouged the customers enough.
So, certainly they are making money. But it's not like the old days of making money and providing FULL service. It's like a return to buckboards.
Profitability... Can’t have that.
How can the Bamster take over if they are making money?
Lost bags, poor service, poor boarding procedures, bad food, national flights no food, no smoking, no alcholhic drinks for free anymore, no free check in baggage on most, unfriendly overworked stewardesses, no pilot wings for kids, no open cockpit to go into or even to talk to the crew anymore...........
Flying nowadays is like being stuffed into a local public transit bus. I'm waiting for the gang graffiti. Long gone is the fancy and glory of flight. The pilots are glorified bus drivers, the new ugly stewardesses wear sexless tasteless PC uniforms, the aircraft inside is cheap, plastic, and classless.
Modern air travel: http://www.staffordbuscentre.com/images/M62-stage-dart—int.jpg
I prefer to fly myself when I can. I don't have to worry about some TSA moron thinking I might hijack an airplane with my nail clippers. I can carry my weapon with me, and not have to deal with some idiot counter decoration from an airline that thinks checking in a gun is some big deal..............
To me, flying commercially has lost all its fun. It has become a painful event.
*** Someone should start a new airline, “Nostalgia Air.”
They need aircraft like the Constellation, DC6, for commutes a Trimotor. The insides need to be plush, smoking is allowed, drinks are gratuitous, the cockpit is in plain view, kids need catered too, and the stewardess should have no metal piercings in her face, seat-belts are optional, and my seat should NOT serve as a floatation device. The food should not be mushy and actually have a taste, and the pilot should be allowed to say nothing because I'd rather he say nothing then a bunch of gay crap.
Now tell us dollar for dollar what you paid for that FULL service. Airfares since deregulation are incredibly inexpensive compared to the so called "good old days. This is really apparent when you factor in the cost of fuel when Jet fuel was about 1/10th the cost of fuel today.
Hey Red....then fly yourself and quit bitching. It’s your choice!
Most people just don’t want to pay for “full” service. Adjusted for inflation, fares are a fraction of what they were decades ago. And incidentally... air travel wasn’t all that comfy back then either. Seats were small and planes were crowded and smoky and babies still screamed and and people still bitched about the food.
But it was new and jets were sexy and “flying” was still a prestigious way to travel, so we loved it even though it was a lot more crowded than a Greyhound bus. But nowadays, it’s not the fresh new thing it was. It’s just another inconvenience in our extraordinarily over-convenienced little lives.
Comfortable flying is available in first class, which I am usually happy to pay for. It makes a huge difference to me.
Game changer is the word many wonkish aircraft magazines and pontificators use.
In an industry that would kill for a reduction in TSFC of 1.5% these engines will offer a 12 to 15% (if not 16%) reduction in TSFC.
1st roll out is in 100 seat aircraft 2013ish, and the concept is scale-able. GE IMHO has no trump card ergo them going green on the Obama tweet.
Then the airlines might have some real margins...
Fly first class then. All that stuff you want is there, except, sadly the smoking (I hear you there). All you have to do is pay for it.
“...and the pilot should be allowed to say nothing because I’d rather he say nothing then a bunch of gay crap.”
What if the pilot had this to say?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWxGKVozHtc
Wait till Zero finds out.
The cabin smoking ban wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t get so overly hysterical about disabling the lavatory smoke detectors....
Lucky you. The rest of us slobs just have to make the decision: put up with the crap of flying commercially or not? Over 10 years ago I chose "not". I have restricted myself to driving around the USA.
I'm not going to be bullyed around by the TSA. They can ram it.
LOL. Yeah, dontcha hate that? :-)
I’ve gone smokeless. Copenhagen. Keeps me from clawing my face off.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
