Airline Arrogance

The federal government is threatening to impose hard caps on the number of flights, including Delta flights, that can be scheduled for JFK airport in New York City. One third of the flights out of JFK are either canceled or delayed. The airlines insist on flight schedules that are impossible to maintain even in the best of circumstances. The airlines are aghast that caps may be imposed and have sworn to fight this with every ounce of energy they can muster.

I saw the CEO and Chairman of United Airlines interviewed today on one of the business news channels. When challenged about the unrealistic flight schedules and chronic flight delays was his answer to accept any responsibility? No. His response was that they scheduled flights when people want to fly and if the air traffic control and airport infrastructure can not accommodate those flights then it is their fault - not the fault of the airlines.

This is a great example of the way in which airlines combine arrogance and incompetence. As a frequent Gold member of Delta's frequent flier program I know only too well about the vagaries of unrealistic flight schedules, canceled flights and poorly maintained planes.

The airline industry has been the greatest destroyer of shareholder value of any industry sector of the last century, and I suspect it will continue to do so.