jp1 Posted December 19, 2003 Report Share Posted December 19, 2003 JJ, There used to be tax breaks, government contracts etc. The golden years belong to the past. European (EU) regulations prohibit any direct or indirect subsidies. Even government contracts belong to the past. The German government uses the cheapest carrier for their civil servants and this means that Lufthansa is in most cases NOT considered. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted December 19, 2003 Report Share Posted December 19, 2003 jj against the common US opinion that anything in Europe ( Old ) is owned by a socialist government, airlines are not allowed to receive financial support any more. The last exemptions were carcasses like Olympic Airways and Air Portugal. When Sabena went bust due to brilliant Swissair management, the Belgian government was not allowed to interfere although it was their only national airline. Most European airlines are just about profitable now although times are tough. The problem with the US airlines is a structural one : too many carriers and passengers no pay too mut. BuBi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted December 21, 2003 Report Share Posted December 21, 2003 "...The problem with the US airlines is a structural one : too many carriers and passengers no pay too mut..." EXACTLY!!!! Also, airline management is an oxymoran, like jumbo shrimp and military intelligence! Take for example UAL, the company I work for. During the economic boom, they kept making industry record profits! In part due to worker give backs in a stock swindle that was only rivialed by Enron. These assholes at the top thought they were making the money because they were great business men, far from it. There was just too much money out there in the hands of reckless spenders, who would pay anything for an airline ticket, just to say they went sking every weekend, or to Europe for dinner. In the end, there was no plan for a down turn, which we all saw coming a mile away, anylists were calling for it etc... Then 9-11 hit, compounded by S.A.R.S. and it was a real mess, add to that the greed of corporate managers who wanted millions to stick around and "save " the company they were responsible for ruining...o.k. I am ranting...what were we talking about? oh yeah, to many carriers, cheap seats, Air Bus sucks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted December 21, 2003 Report Share Posted December 21, 2003 [color:"green"] The problem with the US airlines is a structural one : too many carriers and passengers no pay too mut. [/color] When a company starts blaming its customers for its problems you know that company is heading down the drain. Euroland is heading down the same path. Old airlines competing with new discount airlines. I doubt Euro passengers will say,"I'd rather spend 300 on that ticket instead of 100 on the discount ticket." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texascity Posted December 21, 2003 Report Share Posted December 21, 2003 >>CX is world's leading airline<< I must agree.. always 1st class treatment. best chow, service, treatment.. cabin crews from heaven! I got caught transpacific by the pilot strike in '99 ( '98? the HK airport was a nightmare & out of their control .. huge crowds of angry stranded travlers... they upgraded me to at N/C to a 1st class return ticket to make up for the HK diaster resulting from the strike back log. 1st class! & the free HK stop over is a generious option.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldtimer Posted December 22, 2003 Report Share Posted December 22, 2003 I fly CX whenever I can to LOS. The aircraft are damm clean, the food great, and the stewardess very friendly. What a wonderful airline. Besides I am racist enough to like knowing that there is a Brit, Aussie, or Canadian chap steering up front. Of course, the business class seats which fold down almost flat make flying the vast Pacific less of a chore. I must confess though I am always glad when enroute one reaches Hong Kong and then the Thai speaking lasses come on board. Its like feeling almost home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted December 22, 2003 Report Share Posted December 22, 2003 Hi What about Qantas...who knows what the tax payers are paying for ""our"" Airline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 >What about Qantas...who knows what the tax payers are paying for ""our"" Airline I don't really understand how it works but QF is a publicly listed company at ASX and no government donations should go it's way. When they got QF to hone (collapsed) Ansett tickets, there was a surcharge paid by the public but it seems fair enough. Oz government did it's bit when they merged Australian Airlines and QF to make the new entity leaner and meaner and easier to sell and list it at Stock Exchange but that was it. Virgin Blue and others would have cried a foul if there was anything that makes them disadvantaged. BTW, QF ferries about 3 million people a year on FF points, out of 20 million paying passengers. Quite an exposure although those tickets would not have been sold, mostly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 >I have no problem with the Sheik paying for my seat. Neither do I, as long as he sends me on CX, QF, BA, SQ... With his own airline, I actually do have that problem. The Sheik paying for whatever may come up means the airline is not running on it's own merits, top-class management, efficiency, discipline, procedures, standards... One thing is offering top wines and roast meat on board but what standards have Emirates brought to the industry? Who's learning from them how to properly run a competitive and respectable enterprise? Don't know of any leading airline sending their delegations for any of the Emirates seminars (assuming that should have conducted at least one). When one of the engines on their 767 taking off out of Melbourne blew up, they had only childish excuses and threw in as much money as needed to reroute the pasengers (who disembarked with their presents - "Fly Emirates" T-shirts). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 think too mut, we are off topic and will be banned soon, before that happens : Emirates is one of the best run airlines anywhere ; look at their website and the awards they received. Their advantage is that the Dubai arabs are clever enough to realise that the oil is a limited thing and they successfully made Dubai a holiday destination and for that they need an airline. cockpit crews are all falang and I am sure they are profitable . ordered I think 8 or 12 of the Airbus 380 planes. More than you could ever afford :onfire:. Bbill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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