Rather than attack the government for its inability to manage air traffic, the August 20 “NBC Nightly News” shifted the blame to the airlines – specifically attacking American Airlines.
“So far this summer, Flightstats.com has reported American Airlines has had the lowest on-time arrival rate at 65 percent. But yet another Dallas-based carrier, Southwest, has had the highest on-time rate at 78 percent,” said correspondent Tom Costello making the case against American.
However, Costello’s comparison was faulty because it ignored major differences between the two airlines.
Southwest Airlines’ Dallas operations are primarily out of Dallas-Love Field, a much smaller airport than the colossal Dallas-Fort Worth International, which is one of the many American Airlines hub airports.
Another difference left out of the NBC report is that Southwest offers primarily point-to-point service versus American Airlines hub-and-spoke system.
While point-to-point service has it drawbacks – it limits the number of cities Southwest can serve confining it to mostly larger metropolitan areas – a hub-and-spoke system is more prone to the flight delays NBC was criticizing.
American’s hub-and-spoke system makes it possible to serve more and smaller cities by not being limited to certain routes that serve only large numbers of people that make those routes profitable. The NBC report neglected to explain that.
Todd Sinai, a Wharton School professor told “Strategic Management” that “What we’re experiencing this summer is a reflection of a structural feature of how air travel works in the United States. It is all predicated on driving traffic to and from key airports and doing it at a particular time. That makes the system very sensitive to hiccups.”
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I don't know that I can see
August 21, 2007 - 14:16 ET by Ruths husband BenI don't know that I can see how this is an example of liberal bias in the media.
I also could care less (anymore) about AA (I used to be a stockholder). They have lost my luggage more than anyone else, they have kept me waiting longer than anyone else and they have torqued me off more than anyone else.
SW on the other hand has almost always been a pleasure to fly and their on time record existed long before they were allowed (by FAA rules) to use Love Field.
I think what they're trying
August 21, 2007 - 14:27 ET by Jeff PoorI think what they're trying to do is shift the blame on the airline industry rather than going after the regulatory actions and the antiquated air traffic control system of the failed government bureaucracy of the FAA.
SW has always been allowed to use Love Field, but up until recently, the Wright Amendment only allowed them to fly to certain states - as part of an agreement to let SW continue operate at Love. Now the Wright Amendment is finally being phased out.
You are right. I fly out
August 21, 2007 - 14:43 ET by Ruths husband BenYou are right. I fly out of Missouri and was only thinking of my own travel. But I have gotten so frustrated with AA over the years that they have exceeded my give a darn factor. I travel quite a bit on business and if I can fly someone else I do.
Flying below radar
August 21, 2007 - 15:48 ET by acumenI agree Jeff. But taking it a step further, it serves us well to remember just who started this mess in the first place - muslim jihadists using airplanes as weapons. I think about that everytime I am faced with long waits, lost luggage and every other inconvenience imaginable that occurs at every airport across the globe.
The bias IMO lies in a demedia that refuses to place the blame on the muslim jihadists while continuing to support the jihadists in a myriad of ways from championing freaks like Cindy Sheehan to publishing false stories such as flushing korans.
A liberal aquaintance I know was recently detained by the feds at a national airport because he "looked suspicious" and had a large sum of cash with him. He blamed everyone from Bush to the Patriot Act without mentioning those actually responsible for his inconvenience - the jihadists. Of course I reminded him of this oversight but he just didn't want to go there thanks to a demedia that daily preaches blame to everyone and anyone (as long as they are conservatives or a Republican bureaucracy) except fanatical jihadists.
Another liberal aquaintance (I think these are the only two libs that still speak to me) and his wife just flew to London where they caught an adjoining flight. No big problems until they arrived in London and realized they could not carry-on as many bags as they were allowed in NY and the airline would not let them check their extra bags. Somehow they managed to blame that on Bush, the Patriot Act, etc. Once again I had to remind this aquaintance exactly who was responsible for their incovenience. And once again demedia deafness to logic had set in to the extent of not even considering the folks really to blame are the ones that want to blow up planes and buildings.
Although a stretch, I can somewhat understand why those indoctinated into a culture of hate and religious intolerance would wish to harm Americans. What I cannot understand is why American journalists continuosly overlook, if not make excuses, for these terrorist's savage behavior while going out of their way to portray their fellow Americans as the sole cause of, as in this case 'travel' hassels. If for no other reason than incovenience one would think the demedia would get a clue and support ridding the world of terrorists so we might have the opportunity of looking forward to flying once again without most of the hassles we now have to endure....among many other more important things.
No doubt, the travel situation will only get worse until ALL Americans start actively supporting ridding the world of terrorism. For the time being it seems some Americans (read lib dems) are content on making all of us continue to suffer so they might enjoy some perceived political victory in 2008.
Jeff, in our defence, (the
August 21, 2007 - 16:02 ET by bassndudeJeff, in our defence, (the FAA), we are in the process of updating and replacing all the radar systems in the air traffic system. The largest problem we are running into at the moment, and in the past, is funding. AlGore changed the way the FAA is funded and operates, and funds keep getting cut. I am not in the political loop, nor do I pretend to know all of what the problems are. But I see it as a redistribution of funds. More to welfare, healthcare and to our warriors over seas and at home. The military I am in favor of, but the FAA is going to have to have more funds. That and we have a limited number of techs that can install the systems. But they are out constantly the last few years. We are doing the best we can.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
While admittedly, AA and
August 21, 2007 - 14:17 ET by Chris NormanWhile admittedly, AA and Southwest have different route structures, within those individual structures, Southwest does an outstanding job in turning their planes around for the next flight and boarding the passengers. I think AA has improved from the bad old days, but they still seem to be kind of pokey, from my personal experience...
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
- Arabian Proverb
S.W. is not bogged down by keystrokes...
August 21, 2007 - 14:50 ET by JayTeeEver check in at an AA desk......? count the Keystrokes...they type their brains out compared to SW.
Assigning every Seat, etc..etc.. is expensive keyboard overhead to go with the old computer system. SW may move you thru like a Herd of Cattle (common AA flyer complaint) but give me a $100 discount and I'll wait in line for 10 minutes (or more).
What good is a Free Press, if it is a False Press ? David Foote GoE
I've always maintained that
August 21, 2007 - 15:19 ET by Chris NormanI've always maintained that if you're moving people like cattle (and they all do), it's far better to keep them lined up in chutes (A,B, & C) like Southwest does, rather than letting them mill and roam about in the middle of the boarding area, like AA and others. I just returned from a trip to Dallas. On both legs of my rountrip, Southwest boarded completely full flights - doors closed - in ten minutes flat. What SWA does, they do well - and make money at it. Besides, their unfriendliest employee is friendlier than other airline's workers...
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
- Arabian Proverb
Broad indication of management?
August 21, 2007 - 15:42 ET by JeffWeimerSouthwest has been probably the best managed and most profitable airline in the US. They've structured their business model to take advantage of their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. The other airlines - and AA has been one of the best, in the past - have done their best with what they have. Is it all thier fault? Not entirely, but since when do shareholders take excuses? The management at the airlines needs to generally improve, then they'll see the improvements they need.
Some want to point to the FAA and government for an antiquated ATC system. Certainly it's straining at the seams. Can it be improved? Yes. Do you think for a minute that the airlines would pony up for the required improvements if they crunched the numbers and found out it would positively affect their bottom line? You bet. Is it in their best interest? Yes. Will they do it? Not anytime soon as long as they can shift the blame and get someone else to fix it for them!
I'm no airline expert, but
August 21, 2007 - 16:45 ET by Chris NormanI'm no airline expert, but it seems to me that AA has spent far too much time and money in ill-advised schemes - eliminating competition (TWA) and "me-too" route additions (Love Field, Long Beach) that they had to quickly drop - than improving their own product and building on whatever strengths they have.
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
- Arabian Proverb
As a pilot...
August 21, 2007 - 21:40 ET by niner-four-whiskeyAs a pilot, (non-airline), I'd like to comment on the state of air traffic and the problems of the airlines.
First, there is a big problem in the FAA. The current leadership has gotten itself into an adversarial position with the air traffic controllers and other people who work for the agency. They've also outsourced important services, such as flight-plan filing and weather services to Lockheed Martin and closed most of the flight service stations around the USA. The system is now an incredible mess and flight plans are routinely lost and it can take a long time on hold to get a FSS operator on the line to get weather and file a flight plan.
Second, most major airlines have skinned their crews down to the bone. There is a shortage of flight crews. This is critical because if there's a delay and one crew exceeds their duty hour limits, the effects ripple through the airline's entire crew system because there are not enough standby crews.
Third, the airlines have switched to more and more Regional Jets, like the Canadair RJ and the Embraer Regional Jet. Smaller planes, more flights, more frequent service as the customer wants. But we have a problem in that runways and approaches are only good for so many planes an hour landing and taking off.
For a different angle on this, visit the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association website and look at the articles on user fees and other FAA regulatory foibles.