With each day that the coronavirus outbreak spreads and claims more lives, the damage to global airlines rises too. U.S. carriers on Monday put a price tag on their pain: They asked the federal government for more than $50 billion in rescue aid.Most of the airlines have been effectively shaking down money from their passengers during the 2010s. Seat pitch has gotten tighter. Baggage fees have been going up. Some charge for carry-on luggage, as if anyone can travel without a bag of clothes.
It is a staggering request for an industry that has chalked up tens of billions in profits over the past decade.
Now they want a handout?
No. No free money for companies, like American, which used their obscene profits to give large bonuses to their executives and to buy back stock to please Wall Street.
If they want money, make them give stock to the government. if they want loans, fine, but those will have to be repaid and there has to be some interest. If they want a tax break, same rules: It has to be paid back when times are better.
American capitalists are really semi-socialists: They keep the profits, we make good their losses.
Y'Know, when I ran a motel, and the state did a year long revamping of the exit where it was located, and business dropped by about 65%, that was just a cost of doing business, and I and the other businesses got zero help.
ReplyDeleteYou survived or you didn't. I and several other businesses damned near went bankrupt by the end of that project.
I would think that the airlines should have the same treatment. Deal with it or go out of business,
They'll get the bailout and then some. And it will be used for stock buybacks and bonus's. Great pic by the way.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the Auto Industry Bailout worked rather well. They got the money they needed and they paid it back with interest.
ReplyDeleteWe could maybe learn from that, and give loans not cash gifts.
But no, 150 trillion to the market and it went away like so much dust.
Who are we going to give money to next, his hotels?
w3ski
But a thousand bucks to the guy or gal sheltering in place for a couple of weeks is (((SOCIALISM)))
ReplyDeleteLet them fail -like good little Capitalists.
ReplyDeleteIf they need money, they should sell some stocks like any other company.
ReplyDeleteSlate has a piece
ReplyDeletehttps://slate.com/business/2020/03/airlines-bailout-coronavirus.html
NYTimes:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/opinion/airlines-bailout.html
Rotarian socialism. They take the profits, we take the risk.
The airlines spent 97% of their cash pile on stock buybacks, to inflate stock values. Whoops.
ReplyDeleteB, your motel wasn't too big to fail. American Airlines is.
ReplyDeleteSo they'll get a bailout, but it should not be free cash.
Write your congresscritters, people!
Juan Browne had an interesting take on it:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5YSzEjc6lw
-Doug in Sugar Pine
Just flew back from Baja SJD-PHX-SAC via American. I'll never fly in an airliner again.
ReplyDelete1st thing is print-yourself boarding pass before they will look at you, lines standing on lines kicking baggage along, the zigzag cattle chutes, new hip joint so I got the 'special treatment' at all security checkpoints, could've been a bomb in there, I guess, everyone's a suspect, all day under artificial light and no view of the friendly sky you're guarding, or posing, they take away your fruit and water, give you pretzels or peanuts to eat, hustle you like game show contestants from gate to gate, taxi forever before liftoff, cramp old arthritics like me into tiny seats where it is impossible to sit correctly, charge you money for every checked bag, the sad look of the flight attendants, what a stressful job, couldn't pay me enough to do it...
Baja is nice. But it would have to be by small plane. Never again an airliner I. After American. Never.
Tod, I'll go, but only if I can get there on Southwest or a foreign-flag carrier.
ReplyDeleteNot American, Delta or Untidy.