Originally Posted by
Whip Whitaker
I keep hearing this "Billions of dollars in subsidies" being tossed around. Would you mind being more specific? Cash infusions? Discounted fuel?
By the way here is Emirates Fiscal Report for the last year with the Independant Auditors Report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers on page 65.
Annual Report | Facts & Figures | The Emirates Group
EK Load Factor was just shy of 80% last year with flights to the US in the mid 80's load factor with comparabily priced tickets to US Airlines. Doesn't sound like flying empty planes to me.
As far as subsidies there is some serious selective memory going on here. Just a few years ago Delta received financing from the Canadian Export Bank to buy RJ's for their regionals.
They also received 50 million in subsidies from Pennsylvania when purchasing their oil refinery.
Also money from Minnesota to expand a call center.
I could go on but I hope I have made my point.
Don't forget the D-scale RJ-scope-giveaway subsidy. For RJ pilots, Mideast airlines are a way to attain decent pay without dealing with whipsaw, scope, and the ALPA-sponsored screw-RJ-pilots mentality.
If 10-15% of pilots at EK and 30% of EY/QR are Americans, isn't it the major airlines that are at least partly responsible for helping these so called "monsters" ?