Following the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 airline ticket prices plummeted due to competition. Since then prices have continued to drop until they reached the low prices they are currently at. Airlines have not always tended to the general public, in fact most of the flights airlines took mainly pampered to the upper class. With gas prices continuing to rise and ticket prices lowering due to competition and websites such as expedia, orbitz, etc. has brought traveling via flying and driving to be approximately the same price. Especially with airlines not selling that many of their own tickets and them rather being sold by internet sites, and other travel agents prices have continued to drop.
I feel that flying should be slightly more expensive than driving to aid in the value to flying to the general public. Although most of the general public should be able to fly in my opinion, I feel that it has largely lost its value and is now taken for granted and used without much gratitude. This is why we need to increase the ticket prices slightly, in order to create a greater value of the ticket. It seems that there is mostly criticism and not very much appreciation for the airline infrastructure in the United States.
If airlines raised their prices too dramatically then there would most likely be a lot of mergers, and numerous airlines would close down. If there is only a slight increase in prices, less people would be able to afford trips via airlines however it would hopefully create more value and appreciation for air travel. The industry would have fewer airlines to compete against each other, however the competition between those airlines would be greater. Airlines could certainly use some help since numerous of the majors have been struggling and been forced to merge with other airlines or close down. Some airlines have already begun to stop making trips to certain locations so frequently, or at all and this has helped them financially. This strategy helps them combine trips and have generally more people per flight. Limited scheduling also gives value to the ticket since it is only at certain times. Although it is a good start to adding value to air travel, it needs to be worth more to the general public.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Aviation Safety Public Law
Public Law 111-216 was signed on August 1st, 2010 by President Obama, which makes me imagine what the FAA was thinking with how much work was ahead for them in a very short amount of time. This public law alters things drastically for the entire airline industry as it changes requirements for airline crew members, self-reporting systems, and Safety Management Systems. For crew members they must now have at least 1,500 flight hours, function effectively in a multipilot environment, function effectively in adverse weather conditions, including icing conditions, function effectively during high altitude operations, adhere to the highest professional standards and function effectively in an air carrier operational environment. The self-reporting systems must be implemented for every 121 air carrier operations, and if a company has more than one then they must report how they differ and how each is beneficial to the company. They must also be able to pull information for the Administrator and share data with them. For the Safety Management Systems they must include all of the following items: An aviation safety action program, a flight operational quality assurance program, a line operations safety audit, and an advanced qualification program. A lot of companies already have these implemented into their company however for those that do not, they will have a lot of difficulty in getting these systems set up with the short amount of time they have been provided.
Previous to this Public Law a person, such as myself, could build up hours by becoming a flight instructor, bush piloting, or some sort of other means and then move onto become a first officer for a regional airline approximately at 600-800 hours. Now with the requirement changing to 1,500 total time the opportunity to get a flight instructor, bush pilot, or any other type of pilot job will be much more difficult. We will now have to wait until those pilots in their positions can move up to what they want to do in the airline industry, while more and more pilots will have to wait for positions to become available.
This will add a degree of difficulty to the intro aviator as it will potentially cause a wait before you can get a job flying and then put you in a larger bind by not being able to pay back loans that had to be taken out to get through ratings. This will be a struggle for flight schools to find people who want to go through a lot of training and testing and then not be able to get a job after all of that hard work and effort.
Although this will give pilots coming into the airline industry more experience doing something like instructing, pipeline work, or something else when they come into the new job, it seems to be a very reactive response by those in Congress. Flight hours are almost everything in order to simply get a job interview and although it is understandable to want more flight hours once someone starts flying a large jet there is a certain point where it becomes excessive. If you have a pilot who gets about 1,250 flight hours by instructing, pipeline work, bush pilot work, most of which is done in a smaller aircraft; what is the benefit to have them wait longer to get into a jet?
In addition to what I have already stated, it seems like it will be very difficult for the FAA with the timelines that were given to them in this Public Law. Rarely in the aviation industry does a law go in place in under a year, and in some instances in this Public Law the Administrator (FAA) is to give a final law notice no later than 12 months after the public law comes into effect. Although it is possible for this to happen, there seems to be little respect for deliberation and altering rules to better fit the airline industry so that things can be the best for the industry and for airlines in general. Without time and collaboration to come together with the best solution, something can be put in place that is detrimental to the airline industry.
Previous to this Public Law a person, such as myself, could build up hours by becoming a flight instructor, bush piloting, or some sort of other means and then move onto become a first officer for a regional airline approximately at 600-800 hours. Now with the requirement changing to 1,500 total time the opportunity to get a flight instructor, bush pilot, or any other type of pilot job will be much more difficult. We will now have to wait until those pilots in their positions can move up to what they want to do in the airline industry, while more and more pilots will have to wait for positions to become available.
This will add a degree of difficulty to the intro aviator as it will potentially cause a wait before you can get a job flying and then put you in a larger bind by not being able to pay back loans that had to be taken out to get through ratings. This will be a struggle for flight schools to find people who want to go through a lot of training and testing and then not be able to get a job after all of that hard work and effort.
Although this will give pilots coming into the airline industry more experience doing something like instructing, pipeline work, or something else when they come into the new job, it seems to be a very reactive response by those in Congress. Flight hours are almost everything in order to simply get a job interview and although it is understandable to want more flight hours once someone starts flying a large jet there is a certain point where it becomes excessive. If you have a pilot who gets about 1,250 flight hours by instructing, pipeline work, bush pilot work, most of which is done in a smaller aircraft; what is the benefit to have them wait longer to get into a jet?
In addition to what I have already stated, it seems like it will be very difficult for the FAA with the timelines that were given to them in this Public Law. Rarely in the aviation industry does a law go in place in under a year, and in some instances in this Public Law the Administrator (FAA) is to give a final law notice no later than 12 months after the public law comes into effect. Although it is possible for this to happen, there seems to be little respect for deliberation and altering rules to better fit the airline industry so that things can be the best for the industry and for airlines in general. Without time and collaboration to come together with the best solution, something can be put in place that is detrimental to the airline industry.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Oil Speculation
Due to deregulation in the early 2000s oil speculation has driven oil prices up even when demand has decreased. The way the system works is that buyers will place bids with sellers who agree to sell a certain amount of a commodity at a fixed price. Once the contract is set the future buyer will receive the commodity for the previously dictated price in the future, even if the price is different at the time the buyer receives the commodity.
The commodity for airlines that is volatile for their operation is fuel. Speculation makes it nearly impossible to make long-term plans for any airline. The Air Transport Association, along with numerous others in the industry, is pushing regulators to bring in limitations on the financial speculators. There is currently a bill in congress that would curb oil speculation and hopefully allow airlines to plan more accordingly.
If this bill is not passed then airlines and consumers alike will not be able to stay above water and make any profits. If this continues it will be detrimental to the US airline industry altogether. This legislation would not completely remove speculation however it would limit the amount that could be speculated from 45% to 20% of the market. This would be huge for all airlines in profit margins by drastically decreasing fuel costs.
The deregulation caused things to inflate drastically and that is easily seen by looking at the price for gas prices, which in 2008 were averaged at $1.56 a gallon and now average over $3.60 a gallon. Limitations on how much commodities can be speculated would put a slight strangle on the financial speculators, but would improve all other commodities that they are driving prices up for. In order for this to be set up there will have to be a tighter control on financial speculators and limiting them. If there are not currently people in place to do so then this will assist in job creation.
By decreasing the amount of speculation and helping airlines increase profits this will assist in job creation and job security. Airlines will be able to comfortably create more jobs or hire more people who have been laid off during the US economic recession. By this occurring it will strengthen the infrastructure on the US airline environment.
References Used:
McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/17/121047/how-financial-speculation-in-oil.html
ALPA White Paper
http://www.alpa.org/publications/ALPA_White_Paper_Leveling_the_Playing_Field_June_2012/ALPA_White_Paper_Leveling_the_Playing_Field_June_2012.html#section1-5
The commodity for airlines that is volatile for their operation is fuel. Speculation makes it nearly impossible to make long-term plans for any airline. The Air Transport Association, along with numerous others in the industry, is pushing regulators to bring in limitations on the financial speculators. There is currently a bill in congress that would curb oil speculation and hopefully allow airlines to plan more accordingly.
If this bill is not passed then airlines and consumers alike will not be able to stay above water and make any profits. If this continues it will be detrimental to the US airline industry altogether. This legislation would not completely remove speculation however it would limit the amount that could be speculated from 45% to 20% of the market. This would be huge for all airlines in profit margins by drastically decreasing fuel costs.
The deregulation caused things to inflate drastically and that is easily seen by looking at the price for gas prices, which in 2008 were averaged at $1.56 a gallon and now average over $3.60 a gallon. Limitations on how much commodities can be speculated would put a slight strangle on the financial speculators, but would improve all other commodities that they are driving prices up for. In order for this to be set up there will have to be a tighter control on financial speculators and limiting them. If there are not currently people in place to do so then this will assist in job creation.
By decreasing the amount of speculation and helping airlines increase profits this will assist in job creation and job security. Airlines will be able to comfortably create more jobs or hire more people who have been laid off during the US economic recession. By this occurring it will strengthen the infrastructure on the US airline environment.
References Used:
McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/17/121047/how-financial-speculation-in-oil.html
ALPA White Paper
http://www.alpa.org/publications/ALPA_White_Paper_Leveling_the_Playing_Field_June_2012/ALPA_White_Paper_Leveling_the_Playing_Field_June_2012.html#section1-5
Sunday, September 9, 2012
My Intro
Sometimes I reflect back on my life and wonder how things have happened and how I end up where I am today. Flying is one of those things that I simply don't fully know how I got to where I am. I'm not a person to say that I always knew that I wanted to fly, but I knew that I wanted to get out of Central Ohio and do something more with myself than just become a factory worker. Unlike most of my friends out of high school who would stay at home and help out while going to a below-average college or a community college and then go to a dead-end job, or just go straight to a dead-end job.
I didn't even get on an airplane until I was 16, when my Cross Country team went on a trip to run in New York City. I slept for most of the flight, but when we started to get close to La Guardia we over flew part of the city and came in to land over water. It was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever had in my life. From then on I knew that I wanted to do something with flying. When I went to a college recruiting event at a local college I met a recruiter for the Eagle Flight Center, and he talked to me about the program and I was hooked to come to Eastern to learn to fly.
I have no idea what my plans are in the future, other than the fact that I know I just want to fly. I have no clue as to what capacity I want to fly, as in airline, corporate, flight instructor, cargo, bush, or even an astronaut. All I know is that I am open to any opportunities that come my way, and I look forward to see what the future will hold.
I didn't even get on an airplane until I was 16, when my Cross Country team went on a trip to run in New York City. I slept for most of the flight, but when we started to get close to La Guardia we over flew part of the city and came in to land over water. It was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever had in my life. From then on I knew that I wanted to do something with flying. When I went to a college recruiting event at a local college I met a recruiter for the Eagle Flight Center, and he talked to me about the program and I was hooked to come to Eastern to learn to fly.
I have no idea what my plans are in the future, other than the fact that I know I just want to fly. I have no clue as to what capacity I want to fly, as in airline, corporate, flight instructor, cargo, bush, or even an astronaut. All I know is that I am open to any opportunities that come my way, and I look forward to see what the future will hold.
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