Can't outsource jobs to China .. so lets invite them here!

[usa1]

http://www.brookings...etition-winston

And you wonder why Obama got a second term as bad is he is? Because the republicans alien themselves with crap like this?

HIGHLIGHTS

• Average fares have increased 10% in the past year and scheduled seat capacity has dropped an average of 25% in the last two years at midize and smaller regional airports.
• Only five airlines service 85% of the U.S. domestic market—only four if American Airlines and US Airways merge soon merge.
• Competition from foreign airlines would put downward pressure on airline employee wages, but by reducing fares and expanding service, it would also increase the demand for air travel and related services—thus, presumably, creating additional jobs during a time of persistently high unemployment.
• Existing international "open sky" agreements between the United States and other countries have created at least $5 billion in gains to travelers in the forms of lower fares and more flights.

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

This is not an Obama/Republican issue. It is a domestic supply/demand issue.

And the unions along w/ their Dem allies in Congress have never been in favor of easing the 24.9% foreign-ownership clause.

The unions would lose jobs and places like East Bumfuch South Dakota could lose subsidized airline service.

Interestingly enough it probably would've been USair who would have been the first domestic airline to be swallowed up by a foreign carrier and would now be a juggernaut.

 

[FWAAA]

http://www.brookings...etition-winston

And you wonder why Obama got a second term as bad is he is? Because the republicans alien themselves with crap like this?

I'm confused about this part. Brookings has historically been a pretty liberal think-tank. Have Republicans really aligned themselves with this tripe?

 

[usa1]

Supply has been > demand for 25 years. Ticket prices have declined steadily. The inflation adjusted 1982 constant dollar yield for airlines has fallen from 12.3 cents in 1978 to 7.9 cents in 1997. This means that airline ticket prices are almost 40% lower today than they were in 1978 when the airlines were deregulated. Approximately 20,000 to 25,000 airline jobs have been moved the major trunk airlines to smaller carriers because they pay less. Most of the industries pensions have been dumped on the PBGC. Lets do it again!!!!

 

[FWAAA]

Further evidence that it's not a Republican v Democrat issue: Non-union, low-wage jetBlue. Bankrolled in large part in the beginning by Democrat hero George Soros. B6 has done its part to drive down fares and wages in its first decade. Virgin America, founded and bankrolled by Branson and his friends. He's not an American, but if he was, I don't think he'd be a Republican. Just like B6, VX has helped drive down fares and wages in its first five years with its non-union, low-paid employees.

Another example closer to home: US Air. With multiple rounds of concessions in two bankruptcies, the low-paid employees of US have helped drive down fares and wages. Nearly 10 years ago I posted here that the employees of the other airlines would benefit if US (and then UA) had liquidated. Ch 7 for US and UA wouldn't have solved all of the problems in the industry, but it would have stretched out the survival timeline for the remaining carriers and their employees. But instead, the US pilots worked for pay that's closer to regional jet operator pay than it is legacy pay, and the FAs have worked for 25% to 35% less than AA flight attendant pay.

Yes, inflation adjusted fares are substantially lower than they were 30+ years ago. That's a natural consequence of deregulation. Who was President and who controlled both houses of Congress when the industry was de-regulated? That's right, Jimmy Carter and Democrats. Legacy airline employees should feel good about themselves when their unions line up, just like lots of other stupid-ass unions, behind the stupid-ass Democrats.

Your plight isn't entirely due to the stupid-ass greedy bastard Republicans. Both political parties, your low-wage co-workers at US and your very low-wage colleagues at nonunion startups, are all culpable. What had been a fat and happy industry during the 1950s thru 1978, has had the fat cut out of it, and then some.

 

[usa1]

Can't disagree with most of your post .... and it's the, "and then some". that really sucks. You need to go all the way back to the beginning though, Continental and Lorenzo.

Frank Lorenzo took Continental into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 23, 1983, after unsuccessfully attempting to negotiate a lower pay rate with labor unions. This saved the company from liquidation, but required substantial reorganization, which began immediately. Following bankruptcy, Continental was freed of its contractual obligations and imposed a series of new labor agreements on its union workers, sharply reducing the airline's labor costs at the cost of employee morale.[sup][16][/sup] This move made Continental vastly more competitive with the new airline startups then emerging and thriving in the southwestern U.S., but had notable negative impact on employee attitudes and loyalty. The airline's decision to take bankruptcy worked—by the end of 1984, Continental recorded a $50 million profit. On June 30, 1986, Continental emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Pilots went on strike in 1983, but were unsuccessful due to Continental pilots and new hires who crossed the picket line.[sup][17][/sup]


On December 3, 1990, Continental filed for its second bankruptcy in a decade. Circumstances behind the second bankruptcy included:[sup][18][/sup]

• Lorenzo had dedicated himself almost full-time to Eastern Air Lines acquisition and labor relations issues;
• the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the resultant Gulf War had prompted a dramatic increase in the price of jet fuel;
• People Express had been highly leveraged at the time of its merger with Continental, having purchased Frontier Airlines just two years before.

In addition to Lorenzo embarking on deals which saddled the airline with other carriers' debts, he also began consolidating the different airlines into one system.

Bottom line, we don't need more seats in the air now, especially if flown by Chinese pilots?

 

[signals]

Somebody implied that the 'open skies' will eventually benefit an American airline looking at Latin America.

As far as unions they may have screwed themselves in the airline biz. How you ask?

Picture if you will a union worker in Airport A working for an airline Z. A busy airport with lets pretend a100 flights a day. Now picture a worker in the same union with the same airline Z working in a dinky airportB with lets pretend 10 flights a day. The union worker at airport A makes the same as the worker in his classification at airport B.

I don't see a duck, do you???