I'll preface my remarks on airline industry bailouts with the disclosure of
interest as an airline industry consultant.
Both direct subsidies to airlines and indirect subsidies in the form of
vouchers for customers beg the question of whether air transportation is
enviromentally and socially
Further to my comments yesterday about the recession and jobs, FWers might
be interested in reading the latest of the monthly reports that I send to
shareholders in my choral music business. The fourth paragraph is of no
direct relevance to this List, but it can be generalised, I think, to hint
Here's a reply from a FWer to my previous message and my reply to him:
Hi,
At 06:13 28/09/01 -0600, you wrote:
HI Keith,
I agree with everything you say apart from a return to the
(inflationary) 1970s.
My comment was conditional on the US Government doing all the things that
have been
Background:
(Excerpt from an
article forwarded to me today)
From Slate magazine, an article by Steven E.
Landsberg subtitled "The airline bailout enriches stockholders at the expense of
taxpayers:"
"Let's be clear about what this bailout will
do for the flying public: exactly nothing. It
I would guess
that demand for air travel is--in the light of events of Sept. 11--quite
inelastic. This is to say that lowering prices would not lead to more
ticket sales. Lowering prices will just lead to lower over all
revenues.
arthur
cordell
-Original Message-From: G.
A further contribution, from a
friend:
"All of your questions (except the last
one) imply a transfer of resources towards flying. Why subsidize
flyers? If we're going to tax and transfer there are a lot of competing
candidates!(as your last question implies - counter-terrorism is one
Gail,
Jolly good article.
When widgets are not moving across the counter you have a Sale! When
airline tickets aren't selling - you ought to have a bunch of bargains to
fill the seats.
I understand they have increased prices on a temporary basis. Meantime, a
lot of people have been fired
I repeat, this is all a bit silly. As
Arthur and I both pointed out, the demand for air transport has been rendered
totally inelastic by the events of September 11th. No matter how cheap the
fares, people are now reluctant to fly. It's about making a dramatic,
emotional gesture.Nothing is
