IATA Reports Air Passenger Demand Slowdown in August

All I've got to say to them is
...and the horse you rode in on..
If they won't change because it's right, maybe they'll change to avoid bankruptcy.

 

Waiting for the AmTrack edition: Expect More Riders and REALLY Crowded Trains - Record Travel Forecast for Thanksgiving

 

The last I looked virtually all the airline stocks were down substantially over the past year, performing well below the S&P average. While this has little effect on near term operations, it does adversely impact the company's ability to raise capital for improvements and forces them to resort to debt thus adversely impacting their debt-equity ratio, which in turn depresses stock values.

Given the razor thin margins in the airline industry it seems to be a matter of time before some of the weaker ones begin to fold. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to pin this on any one factor such as TSA, but clearly that isn't helping.

 

I just came across this little gem. In a report on yesterday's Senate hearing where it appears the Committee praised Pistole , it was noted that the other witnesses testifying before the Committee were not so complimentary:

emphasis mine.

 

the heat is not hot enough yet. to move an insensitive thug like Pistole, you need to turn the torch up as far as it'll go. I got a kick out of this one line in the story:

....and one loose screw...

 

This is such great news. Of course, the "experts" attribute the downturn to everything but the TSA. I don't doubt that the crappy economy, unemployment, and fuel costs are factors; of course they are. But I also don't believe that disgust with the TSA isn't. And reader comments to that article bear me out.

 

It is simple cause and effect. It's not so d*mn hard Mr. Pistole. People like doing things that are easy and pleasurable. That's why there are so many babies.

If you make an activity difficult and unpleasant, like flying, of course you are going to depress participation in that activity. People are discovering that they don't have to fly....

It doesn't take any stinking surveys to figure that out....