Amair?

[Amfleet]

Even though this is not directly related to Amtrak I found the article to be very interesting and worth posting.

It certainly hasn't been a breeze for the airlines lately. But things could get a whole lot worse. Tomorrow (Tuesday, March 11th), the Air Transport Association, a powerful Washington lobbying arm of the major U.S. airlines, will release a grim report on the industry — and the prospects for an even darker future. TIME has obtained a copy of the 34-page report, "Airlines in Crisis: The Perfect Economic Storm," which lays out four bleak scenarios for the industry.

Full Article

 

[tp49]

Nationalizing the airlines...how can I say this lightly...NO. It's a bad idea. Look to Europe, Asia and South America where governments have a large stake in the airline industry two major names in the industry went down(Sabena and Swissair) and others France, Argentina and Venezeuala are trying to privitize and get the government out. Nationalizing the airline industry could lead to a scenario where similar to Canada there is really only one viable national airline, thus no choice and competition which is bad for the marketplace.

A better alternative is something more closely resembling re-regulation as a way to stabalize the industry along with some form of subsidization.

However, should the government continue on the path of subsidizing the airlines (as they are now) it would behoove them to seriously consider properly funding passenger rail and other modes of transportation and give them an incentive to work together and create a better national transportation infrastructure...

I'm getting off the soapbox now.

 

[Steve4031]

Well, if they nationalized it, then they could integrate air travel and train travel to maximize the benefits of both mode of travel. Like in Germany and in France. For example, you fly from Chicago to Paris, and then the airline tickets you on the TGV down to Nice. In Germany Lufthansa does a smilar thing.

 

[Amtrak Watcher]

An economist who appeared on C-SPAN early this morning (Friday, 14 March) suggested that the next Gulf War (if there is one) would force a layoff of some 70,000 people from the airline industry almost immediately, put DELTA and AA into bankruptcy, and force United into liquidation. Was there a similar "war effect" on Amtrak during the last Gulf War?