Originally Posted by
944Turbo
Quiet! It is the worst overnight in the system! No one should bid it...
except me!
The place sucked.
Originally Posted by
alfaromeo
Well, I am not unbiased, but this is a terrible decision by the DOT. In tennis, you either go to the net or you get back to the baseline. If you get caught in the middle you will get creamed. In business you are either fully regulated or you are not. Right now this industry is caught in the middle and we are getting creamed. This is not a left or right issue because both sides are guilty. One side tends to interfere on labor issues and one side tends to interfere on industrial issues. In both ways, the pilots get to eat it in the end.
This slot swap is fully legal and meets all the requirements of the regulations. It should have been approved in a week. The DOT has no right to try to "level the playing field" in this industry. RC Cola (if they even exist anymore) does not get any special favors because they go up against Coke and Pepsi. If they can't compete then they can't compete. That is capitalism. In the same way, labor should be free to choose if they want to strike or not. They may make a poor decision and kill their company, but that is their right as their jobs are on the line.
I fully support the company going to court. The DOT does not have a right to try to support favored competitors and I feel they should win. The compromise offered by DAL and LCC was an excellent risk mitigation strategy, but now they should go for broke unless the DOT changes their minds. By the way, you see even the company makes compromises based on risk mitigation. Remember that the next time the union decides to settle a grievance rather than fight and risk a much worse outcome. (sorry I couldn't help myself)
The bottom line is we are either regulated or not. If we aren't regulated then get out of the way, except for safety issues. How much more screwed up does this industry have to get before we are allowed to change?
Well said. IMO, the swap is a big deal. I know we're going to hire anyways but my guess is we'd probably need a lot more bodies to cover that LGA flying than we currently need, is that fair to say?
I finally found by aviation week article and here is what is interesting, it looks as if we had a two-pronged strategy, first was the question the legality of the DOT's conditions and warn the FAA of a court battle and the second was of course to come up with a solution.
United and Continental airlines filed comments challenging the FAA's authority to create the approval conditions.
The argument all airlines involved, on our side, are making is that the law gives the FAA the authority to promote safe and efficient use of airspace, not to assess and address impacts on competition, which, the airlines say is primarily the purview of the DOJ and, to a lesser extent, the Transportation secretary (LaHood).
The DOJ did not object to the slot swap, but on March 24 it filed comments supproting the FAA's tentative decision to make the slot divestiture a condition of FAA approval.
Another point from DAL, LCC and CAL, is that the conditions
would violate the U.S. Constitutions Fifth Amendment [HELLO SCOTUS] protection against the government taking private property for public use without "just compensation." The FAA is arguing the slots are an "operating privilege," not a property right, but the airlines are not accepting that - just as they did not when fighting the FAA proposal in 2008 to requrie slot auctions for EWR, LGA and JFK.
Under FAA-proposed conditions for the slot swap, Delta and US Airways would have to relinguish their slots to the government if not sold within 60 days; Delta, Us Airways and Continental all object. But Delta and US Airways take their argument a step further.
They say they cannot get "just compensation" if the bidding is limited to certain carriers, and if those carriers know they can low-ball bids because Delta and US Airways stand to lose the slots in 60 days.
Source: Aviation Week, April 5, page 43-44
Originally Posted by
acl65pilot
10,000. Just for you FtB
10,000!!!
Ah, if I had more time I'd find a better pic to celebrate 10,000 posts! Holy cow... well, where would L&G be without ACL? Congrats, thanks for all the info and random funny photo:
