Maybe The Circus Is On Purpose

[Prince of PAWOBs]

Hey, Boys and Girls! Prince of PAWOBs here with another spine-tingling, mind-expanding thought for you kids to ponder whilst sitting at the airport waiting for that awesome flight to some city in the Northeast.

Has anyone considered that all of the silliness as of late is not so much a result of poor management as it is a concerted effort to show Congress that the airline industry can't function properly unless the government allows more mergers to take place?

What you talkin' 'bout, Prince?

Take it easy, Arnold! I was thinking about reverse psychology and how you do the opposite in order to get what you want. It occurs to me that if certain airlines deliberately provide terrible, unreliable service, it might be a catalyst for air passengers to demand that Congress and the House and Senate's appropriate subcommittees do something about it. And after another round of hearings on Capital Hill, maybe certain CEO's of underperforming carriers will try to convince those lawmakers that the only way to fix these difficult circumstances is to allow mergers to shore up the shortcomings.

Now, I don't have any inside information that any of this is going on, and it's very much speculation bordering on fantasy. But what if this is actually the case? What better way to convince legislators as to the merits of a merger argument than by creating a situation that enhances the most negative aspects of the airline industry?

Think about that. And while you do, maybe you might check up on the future Transportation Subcommittee hearings that will be scheduled when the session resumes. Maybe watch some C-SPAN when you have a free moment, or catch a replay from your DVR or VCR or EIEIO or whatever you've got.

Most of all, just pay attention, because things aren't always what they seem to be.

Carry on, troops!

 

[AstroLounge]

I've been saying that for quite some time. How could Boy Wonder (Parker) and his sidekick (Kirby)be so intent on purchasing Delta <it still makes me want to p*ss myself> suddenly find themselves at the helm of the most dysfunctional circus that has ever taken to the skies? Did the viagra wear off or was the dosage readjusted since the Delta debacle? SHARES/QUIK was a proven disaster and all the dominoes fell when weather interefered with the operation. Funny thing, that was MARCH......it is now JULY and still there hasn't been much improvement. Either they are on SIESTA in the desert or the BOD needs a good swift kick to force THEM to Take Action.

 

[Travelpro72]

An operation that runs as bad as this one can't be an accident. The little freaks in Tempe know EXACTLY what they're doing. Just look around and see. Not much is really changing. A bandaid here and one there. No real fixes or sense of a sound operation. "For Sale" sign in the yard maybe?

 

[NewHampshire Black Bears]

PRINCE,

"By Crackie", I do believe your onto something here !!!


NH/BB's

 

[MarkMyWords]

Prince,

I would agree with you except for one thing.....US Airways would be the poster child for the arguement AGAINST mergers (related to operational dysfunction). Can you imagine the industry being in a better place if US-UA, AA-CO and DL-NW were all in the midst of a merger right now? Wasn't the only airline merger to go ff with minimal disrpution DL and Western? Every merger in the industry has been a cluster.

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

Hey, everybody!

First off, thank you all for the responses. I was about to consider this particular thread a dead end.

Second, MMW puts forth an interesting point: The absorption of Western was relatively quiet as opposed to the most recent example, which of course is our own happy little airline.

I also see the point that MarkMyWords makes about poor operations detering congressional action is allowing industry consolidation. Yes, if I were an elected official with a seat on a committee listening to the argument that without mergers the airline industry would suffer, I would tend to point out the failures of current consolidation and the inability of airline executives to handle what they currently have. I have a unique view, however, since I actually work for an airline, and in addition I am a unionized employee, so I also get to enjoy watching how management behaves toward labor in this fishbowl. If you want, maybe next year I'll run for office, but I like my congressman, so it will have to be the Senate in 2010.

Now, back to post reality: It is possible that the operational meltdown was an ill-conceived plot to convince Congress that intervention is necessary in the quest for industry consolidation, just as it's possible that poor management at the highest levels has created a happy accident scenario for the same purpose. Either way we slice it, I propose that the following events will occur in the near (read: next two years) future:

1) The executives of the most troubled airlines (in particular, US/HP) will be back before Congress trying to make a few arguments, including:

A)The need for mergers, whether they are hostile takeovers or gentle melds,

B)The ability to abrogate collective bargaining agreements to allow airlines to move money around as they see fit regarding labor,

C)More government funds/loans/help to keep the lower-performing airlines afloat.

2) Passengers will revolt, not so much about fare structure as availablity of seating and information concerning delays, cancellations and rebooking. They, too, will call on Congress to do something about the problems.

3) Lastly, just as 21st century Americans are clamoring for alternative energy, they will also be insisting on alternative high-speed transportaion to combat what might be seen as an inability or lack of desire of the airline industry to innovate. This would be where someone steps in and proposes high-speed national rail a la Amtrak, but without the innate inefficiencies of government operation.

The last possibility is the most interesting, because it has been talked about before without much action. This might be the time when citizens actually convince the government to take real action based on the need for something other than weather delayed, operationally challenged air carriers.

Okay. There are my predictions. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. But I think the first two predictions are highly likely based on what I've seen in the short time I've worked and taken a more keen interest in the airline industry.

Once again, thanks for posting and reading. Contributions to the thread are very welcome!

 

[soc-hpjester]

Travelpro, Its the schedule thats one of the problems, west crews doing east coast patterns is another big one, we aren't set up to do these moronic CLT/PBI/CLT and then SAN/PHL/PBI, one sick call and your done, and east coast crews doing SLC turns give me a break. Throw in mx reliablily low due to fleet age, pack mels, low and slows, a-1's running on trans-cons and bleed mels and you take delays everywhere.

 

[Seatacus]

An operation that runs as bad as this one can't be an accident. The little freaks in Tempe know EXACTLY what they're doing.

I agree......... I think that possibly they are trying to get themselves into the best position for a buyout/merger. A merger/buyout is where the real money is. Isn't that what they are really after? It's obvious they are not serious about running an airline.

 

[MarkMyWords]

Prince -

What if the real target isn't so much merger / consolidation buy in as it is changes in the ATC system? What if airlines like AA, NW, US, UA are using their very slim margins of error to prove a point to congress that the ATC system is the major cause of the system melt downs and using all the public outcry as another tool to push for changes in the atc system and the whole corporate jet paying their fair share issue?

My thinking is, if we are trying to get Congress to look favorably on mergers / consolidations, we sure wouldn't use our merger as an example of the (operational) benefits to customers.

Now, with the current public out pouring of disgust with airline operations, coupled with the industry push for "fair" contributions for using the same ATC system and the push for changes in 1950's technology......maybe the true "conspiracy" is to get congress to push a head with changes to the ATC system.

Just food for thought......

 

[JS]

Great conspiracy theory, very interesting. Thanks for making me laugh; I had a hard day today.

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

MMW,

Hey, that's pretty good! And considering that I finished reading Unfriendly Skies yesterday, your point makes perfectly good sense. All of those items were touched upon by the author in a book that is already 18 years old (I got a first edition copy from the local library).

So, now my next battery of questions comes to bear:

-How much corporate flying is going on in that airspace, and how much of that corporate traffic is using the large commercial airports?

-Why are the airlines using regional feeders to serve those airports instead of the larger planes in their mainline fleets?

-Why is it taking so long for the FAA to institute changes in the ATC system?

Of course, other posters such as Travelpro and SOC have pointed out in their own ways that the problems US is having are not just within the scope of the Northeast. Our woes seem to be systemwide. It's seems that at this point the only major difference between operations in PHX and PHL are the X and the L.

XL problems? Yeah, I think that's pretty close to the mark.