By the way
Airline executive WANT open skies agreements. Executives would like to have deals with foreign carriers. It is the labor unions that are fighting to prevent this from happening. AA's CEO has been trying to work a deal with British Airways for an OpenSkies agreement, before Bush leaves office (Obama is against it). I doubt it will happen, due to strong opposition from labor, however.
McCain, for example, was for doing away with cabatage laws, that prevent foreign carriers from having ownership of a U.S. airline, and from airlines entering into agreements with these foreign carriers. Airlines execs were big McCain supporters. They want this. Labor groups are strongly against this, thus were very pro Obama. Labor wants their jobs protected.
Again, it isn't the executives trying to prevent this, it is the labor groups, and unions.
As per 9/11. Many airlines entered into sham bankruptcies, and the main purpose was to get around expensive labor contracts, in particular, the pilot contracts. Before 9/11, pilots were making atronomical pay rates, and they weren't willing to budge, on concessions, in most cases, thus the airlines went to BK court, to have them thrown out.
Many laws have been changes, since 9/11, to prevent the airlines from doing this again. As a result, in the last year, airlines filing for BK, such as Aloha, ATA, and many other smaller airlines, have filed BK, and liquidated. They were not bailed out.
The airlines are not protected as much as you think, and much of the protection that is in place, is there due to labor unions, not executives.
|