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World Airways Ceases Operations
Following on the heels of competitor Evergreen International Airlines, World Airways CEO John Graber announced earlier today that World will cease operations immediately, and remaining operating businesses including North American Airlines will see significant reductions. In an email to staff, Graber said “the decisions were made by each Company Board of Directors based upon the events of this week.” (www.nycaviation.com) More...
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I've always maintained that sooner or later, we'll have two banks, two airlines, two cable TV companies, etc. The only that that keeps the number to falling to one is the anti-trust laws. So..TWA becomes American becomes US Airways (but keeping the American name)...Continental becomes United...Northwest becomes Delta. This has all been going on forever, and it's true that we have had too many (passenger and freight) carriers and it's survival of the fittest. It's hardly a surprise that Evergreen and World were unable to operate/thrive in the current environment. But we've been thinning the commercial aviation herd for decades and most of the few(er)left standing still manage to pull off a bankruptcy every decade or so to strip a few more feathers off the bird. This is not a healthy situation for the users of this regulated industry. Is there an alternative? I have no idea. Just sayin' ...
You're right on Doug; That's the dark side of capitalism, the system is eating itself to the point where there would be nothing left but empty space. Without the People the process would have greatly accelerated after the Great Recession. This is what happens when you listen to the Market Priests. The alternative is very simple get back to Democracy restore the rule of law in economic matters, stop listening to snake oil salesman like Greenspan, Bernanke, Yellen, etc, Wall Street and Washington.
PV, you've got be a little more evaluative here. You're blaming the market and those who want to regulate the market. Can't be both unless you have a third way. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist. When dereg happened, it dropped the price of a ticket by giving us People Express and its progeny. At the end of the day, a lot of those people took a bunch of heat in bankruptcy court. Now, we're at market capitalism which says that small airports won't be served, that pax will get less legroom unless they pay for it and that a bag checked at the gate costs more than the blinkin' ticket. And tickets go up and pilot salaries go down. Such is the cost of airline profits.
None of the above. It was Alfred Kahn who pushed airline deregulation and Jimmy Carter who made it happen. You cannot deregulate and then partially deregulate what amounts to a service business.
You are barking up the wrong tree. Capitalism works just fine. Political and governmental corruption are killing our industries. There soon won't be a marketplace that isn't directly controlled by the government. Players are not determined by who competes best in the market. It is who feeds the government the best via PACs and campaign funds. The IRS, NLRB, SEC, etc are now nothing more than the attack dogs of the more powerful side. The problem is both Republican and Democrat. Both parties have proved over and over again that they cannot contain themselves from corruption when "in power." What we need is a strong third party, or more, so that no one controls 51% of anything without working for a compromise. With that we may even get a Congress and Senate that will be willing to vote on term limits. Dreams can come true.
Hardly. Government regulation did not cause Icahn to destroy TWA any more than it did any other airline in the last 30 years. I'm not that young to buy the free market BS. The government ended government regulating the economics of airlines in the Carter administration. Whatever else you want to say about that decision, it has permitted companies to develop monopolies at all but the largest airports in the country and ultimately will end commercial aviation to mid size cities in this country. You must be in favor of "crony capitalism" which means get the government out of my way when I want to destroy competition, but make sure the government gives me a subsidy to keep me afloat.
Before deregulation airline managers did not know how or need to manage. A profit was guaranteed by the government. That is why in 1977 I flew on a 747 from the East coast to the West coast with 14 passengers on it. This wasn't the worst case. Some flights flew empty based on mail contacts even though no mail was onboard either. It didn't take a brainchild to realize this couldn't last and every airline knew deregulation was coming. Those that didn't or couldn't prepare were easy pickings for those that did. Icahn, good or bad, was just a player in the inevitable. The well managed airlines survived. Their continued survival is unfortunately based on a government that once again heavily regulates but with no guarantee of profit this time. Hence the airlines, like every other major market player, have learned the political game.
No need to bully me. What you are describing is the very result of capitalism and absence of democracy; Governments used by the incumbents to further their interests and guaranty their monopoly. Free market does not exist; my mother always told me if it is free it ain't no good. Free market buzz is good for testosterone prone male that believe that they are on the right side of the fence, with the rich and famous. You confuse free movement and fair exchange of good, service and people with unregulated, unchecked, corrupted commercial practices propped to assuage the incumbents. You should read Theo Roosevelt New Nationalism speech. Do not confuse capitalism and democracy they are antinomic. Watch that great movie "Mr Smith Goes to Hollywood" with James Stewart (1939). If anything we need controls and laws to serve the People not a few oligarchs/corporatists.
Patrice bless your feminist, populist and ill-informed heart. You're extolling some mix of social justice leftward government "democracy" oriented economics. There's so many conflicting theories in this 1960's Peace Now, down-on-the-man cliche fest I don't know how to sort it out. Let's leave it at: No.
Sorry Patrice. No reason to throw the B word out there. Stepping back and reading postings, I think we and golflaw all really agree. The problem does not lie in the markets or the players. They react to what the government dictates. The government is the problem. The fix is not getting rid of government involvement but electing people that will govern with the county's and its peoples' best interest at heart. You know, a government of the people by the people for the people, not for itself and all it can get.
