My friend says I should be blogging more. Now I'm sure you don't want to hear how good breakfast was, or where I went shopping. But there's always the newspapers...
So I read the airlines blame speculators for the high price of gas, which is is of course cutting into their profits. Poor babys.
Not flying has never been the best experience. Our luggage gets treated better. Time is just a vague concept to them. Never mind the misery that 'security' has become. And not the airlines are having a hard time making money. Making money being a vague concept here. The airlines get billions in indirect subsidies, so the cost to fly has never really covered the cost of flying. Add onto this the airlines are constantly playing a game of chicken with one another. It really doesn't cost $99 to get to Florida, but we can't charge $200 because the other guy is charging $99 so we'll have no passengers. Yet they're both losing money, and they continue this until someone goes out of business, then rates go up closer to reality. And we all suffer.
So now fuel prices are going up. We're seeing the prices of everything in the stores go up because it costs money to get products to market. But the airlines aren't raising fares. They're charging us for bags, no more beverages. Even ripping out the bad movie equipment to save money. But the game of Chicken remains. The cost of flying is going up, but the cost of tickets really isn't. They still charge $99 to Florida or $150 to LA. and they're losing even more money. But got forbid they charge what it actually costs to fly. They would make them normal. We keep playing chicken until someone goes out of business. but what happens when no one flinches and they all go out of business?????
So now the airlines are calling for government action to get fuel prices back down. What other industry or service out there would live with raising costs yet not increase prices? Even my slice of pizza costs more. yet the airlines keep giving us dirt cheap flights, and call on the government for more bailout help... A talk show put it best - companies want capitalism when times are good, and socialism when times are bad. SO it costs more to fly people form A to B? Then charge more. I don't like it wither, but they're a heartbeat away form duct taping us to the outside of an airplane, and this nonsense has gone on far enough long enough.
