“Airlines should compete with one another to secure passengers’ business—not to see who can charge the most in surprise fees,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.
That makes sense, until you see airlines pulling out huge profits then using our subsidies to operate while whining air travel is not a good business
Which airline is making huge profit? I can’t find even one that isn’t breaking even ± 1 or 2 percent.
AA is the biggest, but makes no profit. Delta makes a small profit compared to their revenue.
In the USA* (in civil countries it has been that way for decades)
I was about to say
Ah the backwater country
Thanks, President Biden!
I’m sure they’ll take this lying down.
Then compensate for that when it happens instead of vigorously defending the status quo :)
It’s unlikely that this will set up perverse incentives to sacrifice safety for the bottom line, right?
They already do that… so nothing is lost
You mean like Boeing has been doing for the past 20 years?
But don’t worry, they are stil allowed to make your life and the life of coming generation more and more difficult #climatechange without having to do anything about it (except pretend r&d about “biofuels” and “electric planes” to look cool).
Edit: fixed typo and clarified
Every recent flight delay I’ve experienced was due to mechanical issues or flight crew availability (scheduled crew was delayed on another flight, available crews had or would exceed mandatory hours limit, etc). As frustrating as these are, I’m not sure I want the decision-makers thinking “Gee, this delay will cost us thousands of dollars. Fuck it, send the flight!”. These mechanical checks and crew hour limits are there for a reason. And let’s be honest, regulations are only as good as the enforcement. This may not necessarily be a good change for consumers.
If they could get away with bypassing those inspections or regulations, they already would.
I want the decision makers thinking “Gee, this pattern of delays will cost us more than if we hired more workers”
Yea, you’re probably right. I guess I was overestimating the Risk-Reward calculation they go through. Like, if it doesn’t cost much to be compliant (schedule already accounts for inspections, crews are already on salary) then they would be less willing to risk regulatory consequences. But as soon as it starts to cost them more to do so, compliance becomes “nice to have” and not a standard. Recent incidents suggest they have already been skipping steps, so I concede.
