Why American Airlines' Big Public Sad Meltdown is Good

It's one of those weeks where you should be happy to be you. Cause you could be this guy. Or you could be one of the thousands of displaced refugees formally known as American Airlines passengers.

As a (too) frequent flier of AA myself -- way to go three-for-three trips losing my bags! -- my heart goes out to all the stranded travelers. Though, I'm sure the American Airlines automated phone systems and the over-worked, underpaid employees are doing everything they can to make it seem as though they can actually do something for you.

By the way, AA CEO Gerald Arpey says he takes "full responsibility" for failing to meet FAA inspection standards which caused the cancellations. So I'm sure any minute now he's going to break off a piece of his reported $10,201,059 compensation to help pay for the mess. Any minute.

But while you wait...

If you travel with any regularity you know aside from the AA mess this is a crappy time all around for the airline industry.

ATA, Aloha Airlines and Skybus folded within days of each other. With oil toping $110.00 a barrel and fuel the single biggest expense of airlines, expect a few more to be crushed shortly. Add to the mix the safety issues with American and Southwest Airlines. And add to that The Annual Quality Rating Survey conducted by the Aviation Institute at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University (or, TAQRS by TAIATUNO&WSU for short) which found that customer complaints over issues like lost bags and delays are up 60% year to year.

It pretty much seems like air travel as we know it is done.

Thank God.

This meltdown is not the horrid end of getting from here to there by plane. What's happening now is more like a self-cleaning oven in that you're not really sure what's going on inside the thing, but you know when you open the door in the morning all that crap that was there before is gonna be gone.

And when the crap is gone -- crap being airlines that can't compete -- there will be fewer carriers carrying fewer people.

Fewer flights means less fuel used, less pollution, less congestion in the air and less noise and traffic around airports. With an antiquated system that carried 769.4 million domestic and international passengers in 2007, fewer flights means better service, more accurate departure and arrival times and, hey, know what? Your bags might even get there when you do.

What do we lose? Convenience. There might not be the flight you want leaving right....NOW! But even that might just be a paper loss. If the airlines can reduce the number of delays and the number of people bumped from overbooked flights, then when you get where you're going might actually be when you're supposed to be there.

So, luck to you stranded American passengers. And know that next week Tuesday when you eventually get where you're going, the beginnings of a better air transport system might actually be waiting for you.

Comments

[brooklyncitizen]

AA deserves this meltdown.

However this post is overly optimistic; Idon't know that much will change over the long haul.

[politicky]

I don't think that Americans will change their individualistic thinking (or give up their private cars, or retarded way of doing business by flying everywhere) until they have no choice.

The cheap oil party is over. It's not going back down under a hundred dollars a barrel:

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/marketquotes/index.php3?market=CL

[soylentgreenleftovers]

There is a term that nearly describes your very point: Creative Destruction.

And I agree, we are probably way too overdependent on air travel and way too invested in the infrastructure that supports air travel. These events should be looked upon as an opportunity to start weaning off air travel and start investing in high-speed trains. Of course travel by air shouldn't be scaled too far down, it would obviously have an important role, but we need to get to the point where we don't need all the mega-hub airports we are currently trying to support.

[Dajo]

It is time to re-regulate the Air Lines. I fault the Bush Administration and the Reagan administration for de-regulation which led to lax Government oversite and poor safety practices of the Airline Industry.
If the Air Lines industry continues to put profits ahead of safety then it is time for us to Nationalize the industry so that the taxpayers can reap the benefits of Save affordable Air Travel.

[maddogbitesback]

Blame Reagan and the greed is good and devil take the himdmost of raw capitalism which has caused the subprime fiasco and taxpayers bailing out the rich. Bush is just one who allowed rules and compassion to go out the window. Government has a purpose. They are the ones who see that water is good for drinking, that public land is for the public and not the bottom line of corporations who destroy it and leave the taxpayer to clean up after them. It is raw capitalism.

[Wilburrr]

Airline travel may become as obsolete as the snail-mail letter. With IM and meeting software there is really no reason for much of the business travel that goes on today. Is it coincidence that the companies that cater more toward customer service, like JetBlue and Southwest, are doing the best?.

[hank48188]

The reason the airline industry is so terrible is because the prices are too low to pay for a decent service. I can get a round-trip flight from Detroit to Sarasota for about $330, how can they make any money at that price? When the airlines were regulated the seats had more room, the flights weren't crowded and they gave you food on real plates with silverware, even in the back of the bus. Prices were higher but it was a very pleasant experience and worth the extra money.

[bacaja]

The airlines are just a symptom of a failing economy. Everything you see now has to
do with the stupididest, most obtuse political system the U.S. has ever faced. This is what can be expected from the "New feudal system" Where wealth is gravitiating out of the general population
and into the hands of a relative few. The rich fiddle while rome burns. While thousands (soon
millions) are losing their homes. Sadly the ones who are destroying our economic way of life
are simultaneously, vastly profiting from it..

[MoreCowBellNowPlease]

This is the time to FINALLY develop a real rail system like Europe.

The airline and oil company lobbyists are finally going lose control over the goverment that prevents a energy kinder system like electric trains from existing. Yes!

[donkee]

and

how does

the free market

replace the airlines

that are lost does the gas

get cheaper

heh...

[maddogbitesback]

The free market rebuilds the railroads. The free market views canals as an incredibly cheap way to move heavy carg which doesn't need to arrive yesterday.

[chaz]

"So, luck to you stranded American passengers. And know that next week Tuesday when you eventually get where you're going, the beginnings of a better air transport system might actually be waiting for you."
"MIGHT" "MIGHT" "MIGHT" "MIGHT" "MIGHT" "MIGHT" "MIGHT" "MIGHT"

So what your saying is less SUPPLY and more DEMAND is a good thing for the consumer.
Brilliant! Georg W. Bush economics 101. You should run for President. Now I know why your such a devote supporter of the Republican party.

[flatus]

Since when does less competition translate into better service?
Fuel price and being screened like a terrorist aside, air trvel nose dived when ticket prices fell low enough to let the riff-raff aboard.

[maddogbitesback]

flatus;

I am happy to think you will no longer be allowed to board. Hig fuel prices have a lot of positive spin offs.

[M1nkyb0y]

Thank goodness the airlines are failing. Now the remaining ones still can't afford to both maintain and fuel their aircraft. The customer base becomes less and less thrilled with the ORDEAL of air travel. Customer service is a thing of the past. I'll pay for the fuel and lodging of a 3 day trip from CT to TX to see my father, rather than face the limitless paranoid security hoops and self-appointed Nazis that is the current airline industry.
I couldn't be the only person that has given up commercial flying since the "security for profit" people took over.
Thanks John, it sure looks rosey now.

[Erdgeist]

I welcome the collapse of the airlines. So whatever happened to a good rail system? Oh I know, the lobbyists got rid of it for cars, which kill tens of thousands a year, and passenger planes. At one time, from Chicago's Grand Central Station, any train could almost reach any part of the U.S. in one day. Yep, folks we've come a long way, from civilized rail trail travel to packed freeways and flight delays. This is progress?

[MajorKong]

To be fair, the railroads wanted out of the passenger business so they could concentrate on hauling freight, which is much more profitable.

[DaveRhodeIsland]

I don't see how this is going to make the air travel industry any better. It just means that there will be MORE inconveniences for travelers - less flights, more crowded flights, worse service (less competition is ALWAYS bad), reductions in services to the planes because of cost, etc.

Also, I'm sure the government will bail out the bigger airlines, with taxpayer money, as they've done before. This isn't going to make anything better at all.

more on this at my blog...

[metogamekun]

Sounds to me like it's the right time for a national high speed rail system.