Winging It

Dear Mr. Belden:

Re: Oligopoly Was Always in the Air

I find Mr. Pogue's assertion that "unfettered competition would lead eventually to an airline oligopoly" as prescient as an Eagle's fan asserting that "the team will eventually win a Super Bowl". Eventually is a long time and proves most fortune tellers correct. Did he mean an "olig" lasting for a quarter, a year, a decade or all eternity?

I fail to see where you prove the point that observers feel a "olig" already exists, especially after rattling off a list of viable airline companies. My observation is that regulations were lessened but not diminished enough ie the # of years in getting Swest in PHL, gates hoarded by the legacy carriers, the restrictions put on foreign airlines to provide domestic travel. In the late '90's, I used to drive from W. Chester to BWI to take a one stop flight to SAT. Now you can fly nonstop out of PHL....nothing wrong with that picture.

At present, airlines find themselves to be in survivor mode due to high fuel prices and decreased travel by incensed fliers. The path of least resistance to survive is to merge. Once this cycle is over and we get hit with enough fare increases and poor service, some go getters will develop alternative airlines.

I do not begrudge the airline industry on the disparity of fare issue. A seat on a plane is a commodity where supply and demand change on a frequent basis. You can always choose to drive and buy gas from Exxon-Mobil......oh, now we're talking "oligopoly".

Regards,
Bruce Hepke
West Chester

Tom,

Good article. The most telling part of it is at the very end re those without access to private jets.

I have long held a theory which has come about as being a twenty year plus global road warrior fortunate enough to fly first/business class whenever it has been available and now virtually required to do so by multiple cancer surgeries and treatments that have made sitting for long periods a challenging proposition.

Years ago, my seatmates were often CEOs/CFOs/Senior Management of many large, often global companies.

Not now. They are now on private jets---corporate owned, personal owned (now that many can afford it due to stratospheric compensation), timeshares. I recall vividly one of my own Philadelphia-based clients fairly spitting out his career objective: "I don't give a damn about the money; I've got plenty of that----it's all about the corporate jet."

My theory: if these same senior execs had remained on our passenger planes, the deterioration of airlines and certainly service would never have reached the lows of recent years.

The airlines knew well who was paying the bill for THE SYSTEM: the guys up front who ran our global industry. Now, they are not on board. And if they were, they would be screaming bloody murder at the treatment being dished out by the airlines.

That their employees are on board, crammed into too small planes, sitting for hours on packed runways often due to many more small planes taking up the same takeoff/landing slots as large jets, flying out at odd times required by corporate "budgeting" regulations, well, they (senior execs) just never see that for themselves. Under that scenario, anything goes.

Out of sight, out of mind. Take your seat at the back of the bus.

Keep up the good work.

I fully appreciate the need for the airlines to increase their revenue as the result of the huge increase in the cost of jet fuel.

But the new charge for selecting an aisle or window seat is discriminatory for couples traveling together. In order to sit side by side one of them must pay an additional charge.

Also, the newly instituted charge for checking a second bag is nickel and dimeing us.

What next? A charge for using the lavatory?

The reality of the situation is to offset increased costs, so why not just increase the fare to cover the increased operational costs?

Oh for the good old days when you had four fare levels, First Class, Business Class, Coach and Economy. And you got amenities, smiles from customer service agents, and thank yous from the pilots, traveling in clean, well maintained aircraft.

In view of the variations imposed by the various airlines I think it would be interesting if you researched and published an article comparing the additional charges / restrictions of all the airlines serving PHL.