Quote:
Originally Posted by petep9000
So, is the solution a government take-over of airlines? It sounds like the alternative is that Americans will not be able to fly a domestic carrier.
If the average Joe needs to fly domestically from point a to point b, eventually there will be no airline to fly him? Because it's just not a profitable enterprise? He can fly to Singapore, but he can't fly to Madison WI?
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That's already happening. Many small cities/towns have been dropped. The big legacy carriers like AA, are mainly flying the large markets. The small markets will be served by the "puddle jumpers"
Airlines aren't very scaleable. When demand increases, thay can't quickly add aircraft and gates (and pilots). Likewise when demand drops, they can't reduce much other than eliminate some flights, but they're still paying for the planes and gates. There are also high fixed costs like maintenance facilities.
Btw, there is an aircraft "grave yard" near Mojave, CA. I've seen it. Hundreds of big jets, 747's, etc. sit idle
I think eventually US airlines are headed to some kind of government support like other countries.