[bubblewrap]

Wow that's a lot of angry passangers!

[zizban]

Wow! That sucks. If I were the company's CEO, I would go into hiding before an angry mob finds him.

[bubblewrap]

I hope some company steps up and honors the tickets.

[JohnSmithXTREME]

Airlines in general are becoming really bad. In the last 3 years, nearly all of my trips have had severe delays, and about half the time my bags get lost for days or even weeks. It doesn't matter which airline I fly with, Continental, AirFrance, BA, Delta.. they are all behaving very badly.

I'd say that the airline industry is RIPE for a shakeup in 4-5 years.

[BoomStick]

Well, there's a couple less airbuses to be bought.

[E's Lil Theorem]

That really sucks.

Hmm, I have some credit with Delta Airlines from a flight I canceled earlier this year. I should use it before they decide to do something similar.

Originally posted by bubblewrap:
I hope some company steps up and honors the tickets.

It's Canada, not Cuba

[bubblewrap]

Ehhh, the US government will propably bail Delta out... again.
Too many jobs to be lost.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by E's Lil Theorem:
It's Canada, not Cuba

What do you mean ? Is there a difference besides the language ?

-t

[Eug Wanker]

Heh. I was listening on the radio and they interviewed this 10 year old girl who was supposed to leave on her March break vacation today.

She began... "I won't say what I REALLY think..."

Anyways, let's just say there were a LOT of pissed off people today. One woman said it cost her $6000 to rebook her family's trip, so her $4000 trip suddenly became $10000.

[tooki]

That's the weird thing, unlike most companies, airlines seem to operate with only a few days worth of cash in the bank, seemingly. Most companies keep enough cash around to be able to operate for at least a year, even if they didn't make a cent. Airlines are "living from paycheck to paycheck", so to speak.

tooki

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by tooki:
That's the weird thing, unlike most companies, airlines seem to operate with only a few days worth of cash in the bank, seemingly. Most companies keep enough cash around to be able to operate for at least a year, even if they didn't make a cent. Airlines are "living from paycheck to paycheck", so to speak.

tooki

I think they live on razor thin margins these days trying to kill off the competition.

And people have come to expect VERY cheap flights.

[bubblewrap]

Ugh, I wonder how stable the airline I fly for is?

[DBursey]

Those who purchased tickets through a registered travel agent are covered, as the agent is bound to provide an alternate carrier or a refund.

Many who bought directly from Jetsgo will be out of luck, unless covered by their credit card provider (Visa has offered to cover clients' Jetgo losses; others will probably follow suit).

No taxpayer money will be forthcoming to bail out Jetsgo. The feds don't underwrite private businesses.

[MountainMac]

Originally posted by DBursey:
The feds don't underwrite private businesses.

Bwahahahahahahahaha!

They do in the United States.

[nforcer]

The failures and other ongoing problems of airlines are a testament to how horribly they are set up. They need to be entirely redone. They need more automation. I do not see how they are not profitable.

[BasketofPuppies]

Originally posted by MountainMac:
Bwahahahahahahahaha!

They do in the United States.

It's not like the Canadian government runs its own airline and bails it out whenever it runs out of money.

[t6hawk]

JetsGo shut down cause the morons running it were... morons. The CEO has tried to run an airline before but ran that one straight into the ground also. The news said the JetsGo's planes had some major mechanical problems also that weren't properly dealt with. I know WestJet and Air Canada are adding extra flights on the routes JetsGo used to fly to accomodate passengers. Either way I'd say WestJet would be the best choice if flying in Canada right now as WJ is the only airline I know of in Canada that has actually had some form of profit in the last 5 years.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Dammit! There goes my cheap flights!

Jetsgo were hands-down the cheapest airline. As a poor student who travels halfway across the continent every couple months, it was freakin' excellent. I just flew back from Toronto on Jetsgo two weeks ago, actually. That's crazy.

Now back to paying $100 more for Tango or Westjet....

greg

[chabig]

Originally posted by bubblewrap:
Ehhh, the US government will propably bail Delta out... again.
Too many jobs to be lost.

That's an odd thing to say. They US government hasn't given Delta any help so far and have been more than willing to let the airlines stand or fall on their own.

Chris

[bubblewrap]

Ten days after the terrorist attacks, Congress passed a $15 billion aid package for the airline industry: $5 billion in direct cash handouts and $10 billion more in government- backed loan guarantees.

The goliaths of the industry are getting most of the money: $644 million for United, $583 million for American, and $528 million for Delta.

Not odd at all. Do your research.

[chabig]

Those direct cash payments were compensation for the government mandated shutdown of all air traffic following 9/11. In essence, the government closed the airlines down for a period of time and compensated them for their loss of revenue. Naturally, those with the largest losses received the most compensation.

And of the money authorized for loan guarantees, not one cent went to United, Delta, or American. Here is how the loan guarantees were given:

America West: $429 million
Vanguard Airlines: denied
Frontier Flying Service: denied
Spirit: denied
National: denied
US Airways: $900 million
ATA: $148.5 million
Gemini Air Cargo: denied
Corporate Airlines: denied
Medjet: denied
World Airways: $27 million
Frontier Airlines: $63 million
Aloha: $40.5 million
United Airlines: denied

So of the $10 billion authorized by congress, the ATSB used only $1.6 billion for its intended purpose. And remember that these guarantees don't represent tax dollars given to the airlines. It just means that the US Government co-signed for loans and only has to pay out if an airline defaults.

Chris

[kcmac]

I have used Southwest for the majority of my business flights since 9/11. Fly them for awhile and it is pretty easy to see why they are just about the only airline in existence to make money.

Only one kind of plane makes maintenance a snap. Planes land and immediately take off. No sitting around. Almost always number one in on time arrival/departure and customer satisfaction. Employees seem to be very happy which equates to good customer service. Extremely easy to get checked in at the airport via self check in or employee check in. And even though you don't have a reserved seating number, their boarding system seems to be much faster than everyone else which use the reserved seating assignment.

These are just a few. Southwest seems to listen to their customer base and constantly tinkers with the system to make it easier to use them. I don't see this in any of the other airlines except some of the newest go getters such as Frontier.

It is hard to feel sorry for the Airline industry when you fly regularly. These companies are some of the dumbest to be found in any industry. It is a shame but that is the reality.