[jimworcs]

Those of you who have followed my comments over the last few months will know that I am of the opinion that de-regulation of the airlines has created a situation in which safety will be compromised. The race to the bottom is dangerous and the airlines exploit bankruptcy rules to screw passengers and staff. Sadly many airline staff come on these forums and repeatedly defend their employers. I believe that the airline industry will be considerably improved if the US opened up the markets to competition. They should begin by:

1. Allowing foreign ownership and competition within the US market. The US is the largest trading nation in the world. If all other countries adopted the protectionist approach taken to protect US airlines, US Inc would go bankrupt. The US economy depends on international competition. What possible justification is there for US airlines to get special protection.

2. The bankruptcy laws, in particular use of Chapter 11, needs to be substantially revised and the management team responsible for taking an airline into Chapter 11 should be replaced and no exit payments. Any bonuses paid in the two accounting periods prior to entering Chapter 11 should be repaid. No airline should be able to enter Chapter 11 more than once in 25 years.

3. The fortress hubs should be broken up, the same way ATT was broken up in the 1980s. No airline should be able to command more than 15% to 20% of any market.

4. Protection for passengers against predatory and unfair contract terms should be introduced, regulating how airlines should treat passengers, and what the reasonable expectations of passengers should be. This should include restrictions on holding passengers hostage on airplanes for hours on end for the convenience of the airline, specific rules on how airlines should respond to weather delays, cancellations, etc. A total ban on overbooking flights.

If you think this is just a bitter passenger talking, look at these comments by Sully, a national hero and a pilot of the old school. Ask yourself if you are happy in future to be flying with a pilot who is paying the airline for the experience, and having to work many hours on other jobs to afford it, rather than seasoned professionals like Captain Sully.

WASHINGTON – The pilot who safely ditched a jetliner in New York's Hudson River said Tuesday that pay and benefit cuts are driving experienced pilots from careers in the cockpit.

US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger told the House aviation subcommittee that his pay has been cut 40 percent in recent years and his pension has been terminated and replaced with a promise "worth pennies on the dollar" from the federally created Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. These cuts followed a wave of airline bankruptcies after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks compounded by the current recession, he said.

"The bankruptcies were used to by some as a fishing expedition to get what they could not get in normal times," Sullenberger said of the airlines. He said the problems began with the deregulation of the industry in the 1970s.

The reduced compensation has placed "pilots and their families in an untenable financial situation," Sullenberger said. "I do not know a single, professional airline pilot who wants his or her children to follow in their footsteps."

The subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee heard from the crew of Flight 1549, the air traffic controller who handled the flight and aviation experts to examine what safety lessons could be learned from the Jan. 15 accident which all 155 people aboard survived.

Sullenberger's copilot Jeffrey B. Skiles said unless federal laws are revised to improve labor-management relations "experienced crews in the cockpit will be a thing of the past." And Sullenberger added that without experienced pilots "we will see negative consequences to the flying public."

Sullenberger himself has started a consulting business to help make ends meet. Skiles added, "For the last six years, I have worked seven days a week between my two jobs just to maintain a middle class standard of living."