Airlines Propaganda Letter

[peggs82 0]

I recieved this email today from US Airways... Email below next paragraph.

They are fighting the battle against you. Don't let them win... I Know this is a issue that has been talked about before, so forgive the new thread. Just remember, they are coaxing the flying public into doing their dirty work. I suggest you listen to them and contact your representatives, but instead tell them as a general aviation user how YOU feel!

From the email:

We need your help making air travel more efficient

Tell Congress to take action and modernize air traffic control
The summer of 2007 has been difficult for air travelers and airlines alike. Throughout the airline industry, delays are at record levels and are only expected to rise in the coming years without addressing the technology behind air travel. America’s outdated air traffic control system must be modernized to ensure that the delays travelers are experiencing become a thing of the past. Today’s system is based on 1950s-era technology that’s unable to keep pace. Adding to the problem are the growing demands of thousands of corporate aircraft—which compete for increasingly scarce airspace, but don’t pay a fair share of the system costs.

The solution is modern technology and modern funding to support air traffic control systems.

Congress is debating important “FAA reauthorization” legislation which will help make critical air traffic control modernization a reality. US Airways and the airline industry are urging Congress to take advantage of this key opportunity to utilize state-of-the-art digital technology to improve air traffic control and reduce delays caused by congestion. At the same time, Congress has the opportunity to reform the outdated 1970s funding formula which forces airline passengers to subsidize corporate aircraft. The concept we’re advocating is called “cost-based funding,” and it will ensure that all users of the nation’s air traffic control system pay their fair share.

The pending legislation has reached a key juncture. We’ve put together a brief overview about the important issues Congress is debating. We’re joining other airlines to ask our customers and employees to express their views to Members of Congress. It only takes a minute and can help reduce delays and stop unfair taxes. Tell Congress to take action.

Modern, Digital Technology
US Airways supports building a modern air traffic control system designed to handle the demands of air travel today – and tomorrow.

Today, air traffic control systems rely on 1950s-era technology like radar and analog navigation that's inefficient and unable to handle the volume of traffic in the air. With more flights than ever, this outdated technology causes delays both in the air and on the ground. We believe that modern digital technology provides the infrastructure necessary to handle air traffic now and in the future. Modern, digital technology is also cost-effective, scalable and reliable. Together, we can reduce delays and create a system that fosters safe and efficient growth.


No New Airport Taxes
US Airways opposes the $2.2 billion increase in Passenger Facility Charges proposed by the House of Representatives.

Passenger Facility Charges—or “PFCs”—are special taxes Congress allows airports to collect from individual airline passengers. PFC taxes are imposed each time a passenger passes through an airport. But the tax is actually added to the price of the ticket, and airlines are forced to collect the tax for airports at the time the passenger pays for a ticket.

Today, most airports charge passengers a PFC tax of $4.50. Under a proposal pending in the House of Representatives, the amount each airport can collect would be increased from $4.50 to $7.00 per passenger. A $7.00 PFC tax would add $28 to the price of most roundtrip connecting tickets—that's four trip “legs” at $7 each. That means a traveling family of four could pay an astonishing total of $112 in PFC taxes! This is especially unfair to travelers from smaller cities who must connect to reach their destination. They’ll pay twice as much as those from hub cities who can fly nonstop, meaning passengers from small and rural communities will subsidize airport projects at big hubs.


Cost-Based Funding
US Airways supports the concept of “cost-based” funding. Commercial airlines cannot afford to continue subsidizing other system users, including corporate business jets.

A recent FAA study confirms that taxes paid by commercial airlines and their customers generate 94% of the revenues paid into the Airport & Airway Trust Fund. Yet commercial airlines are responsible for only 73% of the costs associated with operating and maintaining the air traffic control system. In contrast, corporate aircraft are paying for only 6% of system cost, even though they account for 17% of system use. Likewise, taxes paid by commercial airlines and their customers fund $1 billion dollars annually in Airport Improvement Grants which heavily subsidize airports from which commercial airlines don’t benefit.


A Reasonable Fee to Support Modernization
US Airways supports a proposed $25 per flight surcharge to be paid by all turbine-powered users of the air traffic control system.

Senators Jay Rockefeller and Trent Lott have jointly proposed a $25 per flight “modernization surcharge” for all turbine-powered users of the air traffic control system. Such a fee represents a fair and simple mechanism to ensure that corporate aircraft pay a greater share of the system costs they generate. Further, the Rockefeller-Lott proposal would establish new bonding authority, meaning that revenue generated by their proposed “modernization surcharge” could be leveraged through bonding to expedite modernization of the air traffic control system.

[billvon 2,400]

>air traffic control systems rely on 1950s-era technology like radar
>and analog navigation that's inefficient and unable to handle the volume
>of traffic in the air.

Damn straight! Get rid of radar, compasses and voice radio!

[diverds 0]

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Adding to the problem are the growing demands of thousands of corporate aircraft—which compete for increasingly scarce airspace, but don’t pay a fair share of the system costs.

I love this argument. Next time you fly in the airlines hub and spoke system see how many general aviation airplanes you can count at the nations busiest airports. A growing G/A fleet should lower traffic at the busier airports as some of those business travelers go direct to their destination instead of flying into major airports and driving. The only thing that clogs the system at large airports is the airlines own over scheduling practices. Lets see Congress write a bill to stop that.

Skydive Radio

[pwln 0]

Maybe all of the GA people should get together and do a few "fly in's" into some of the busy airports.
I know it costs more to land / park at most of these but if 100+ GA aircraft were show up at say JFK on a monday morning it could only make for good times, right?

That would prove them right now wouldn't it?

[-Scatter- 0]

They're not trying to kill us. They're trying to kill the new VLJ air taxi services. We're just going to be collateral damage.

[johndh1 0]

The airlines are putting full page advertisements in their magazines that are always in the seatbacks, and are basically duplicates of that. Someone showed to me recently that AOPA has a flyer to counter, and encourages everyone to print it off their website and place it in those same magazines when flying commercial (I don't have time to find the link right now).

It's a sad joke that airlines (airline executives) are talking about anyone not paying equally, and portraying themselves as being the consumer's advocate for fairness. These same scoundrels get billions of dollars in bailout money from the government (us), then cut their employees' salaries and implement widespread layoffs, and then immediately have the disgusting audacity to give themselves multi-million dollar bonuses for "cost-cutting?!"

The fact that conditions exist with GA right now (though deteriorating) is the reason foreigners can afford to come here and live and skydive for a month - they probably couldn't do it in their own country.

It says quite a lot when an explanation for the actions of the airlines can be most easily and thoroughly explained in a half-hour episode of "South Park."

Roll Tide Roll

[reddn 0]

which episode was that?

-thomas

[vpozzoli 0]

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which episode was that?

-thomas

Must be referring to this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entity_(South_Park)

Vale

[Unstable 8]

Fuck the Airlines. From an Industrial Engineering. Perspective, they run a horrible show. Just NOW are they starting to employ engineering techniques to efficiently run their resources, and their business methodology, NOT the Nation's airways, is holding them back. It's not rocket science, their business management as a whole is 50's ear, and even US airlines are taking a beating from Foreign competitors, even on local routes!!

Total bullshit - they are in trouble and want to throw their massive debt onto the general aviation sector to save their skins, regardless of the consequences.

=========Shaun ==========

[TomSpoon 2]

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even US airlines are taking a beating from Foreign competitors, even on local routes!!

No foreign airlines compete with US airlines on local routes.

That would be against cabotage rules.

[jumpinfarmer 0]

Hey Tom what do you think about this?

Personally I think it sounds like it could cripple skydiving as we now know it. Maybe USPA can find a way to get an exemption for skydiving flights.

[2shay 0]

God I hope! The airlines are also the same ones that kill new airlines that come in by lowering their costs below what the new airline is offering, just long enough until the new one goes bankrupt. So their filghts must really not cost them that much to maintain, they're pretty greedy a holes in my book. I really hope that this does not happen, but I fear that it will. I have really been stressing about this alot since I have heard about it a few months ago. i wondeer if the uspa can work something out. It seems so far that no one has really showed the government or whoever it is, how bad this will kill general aviation. I know that small aircraft probably won't be worth crap after that. I also live in kansas I wonder how cessna will get along after that. Pretty scary to me

don't try your bullshit with me!!!

[Unstable 8]

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I also live in kansas I wonder how cessna will get along after that. Pretty scary to me

I worked with Cessna for 4 months and trust me - they will fight it. Their weekly paper, The Cessnan had almost weekly article encouraging employees to write in to their Senators and protest, and explaining why this bill would hurt their Company. Right now, Cessna has a 60% market share on business and personal Aircraft, and they WILL fight it tooth and nail.

In one article, they mentioned a TV commercial that was played in 2 major NY airport hubs blaming the delays on private aircraft. They filed a complait with them for false advertising and the airline had to withdraw their ad and make a quasi-apology. I think We can count on Cessna, Hawker-Beechcraft, and some of the other for major support.

=========Shaun ==========

[JohnMitchell 14]

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>air traffic control systems rely on 1950s-era technology like radar
>and analog navigation that's inefficient and unable to handle the volume
>of traffic in the air.

Damn straight! Get rid of radar, compasses and voice radio

Actually we could. Radar can be replaced by GPS position reporting, compasses replaced by GPS, and radios replaced, or at least supplemented, by data link. The ATC system still uses 50s, 60s, and 70s technology, but it's been improved and added onto over the years. Russel Chew talked big about a grand vision of the future, but they fired his incompetent ass.

Available technology is light-years beyond what the FAA is implementing. The bureaucratic inertia is stupefying.

[2shay 0]

My Dad works for boeing aka spirit for about 20 years and I showed him the bill a few months back he looked it over and said there was no way he could see it happening. This is once when I hope the old man is right. Sad thought that people would even consider this, but most people probably do not know the whole spectrum of details. They just see outdated system that needs to be replaced. Hope their opinion does not matter

don't try your bullshit with me!!!

[Unstable 8]

Do you live in Wichita? I'm sure you heard steam come out in the papers and such...

=========Shaun ==========

[2shay 0]

yeah I do. To be honest I haven't paid attention to it. I am sure it has though

don't try your bullshit with me!!!

[Reginald 0]

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From an Industrial Engineering. Perspective, they run a horrible show. Just NOW are they starting to employ engineering techniques to efficiently run their resources, and their business methodology, NOT the Nation's airways, is holding them back.

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You seem to know a lot about it. Please share your knowledge of how the airlines operate.

There are some seasoned businessmen that would argue that the ailines are on the cutting edge of applied analytics in running their businesses. Have you ever had a glimpse into the analytics of flight scheduling and pricing systems or the logistics management systems the airlines have? Whether you like the end results or not the airlines have rooms full of PHD’s and MBA’s performing analytics that most companies in the country can’t manage.

That said I’m not much of a fan of airlines.

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

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