Originally Posted by
Beckles
The reality is that if you look at any period of time greater than five years the airline industry as a whole is a breakeven proposition at best. The ability of airlines to earn huge profits for short periods of time has never been in doubt, but just a few short years of profit does not prove they have somehow broken the boom-bust cycle they have been slave to for the decades since deregulation.
We shall see, but the current crop of managers do seem a bit more level-headed than past generations. I think that a lot of folks previously running the airlines were prone to romanticizing the industry. The current crop cut their teeth in a pretty rough era, so hopefully have learned their lesson.
The question is what happens when the current crop steps aside for those that grew up in a brighter era.
Originally Posted by
Beckles
A vast majority of the nations airports are not slot controlled, and WN became the world's largest carrier at one point (by number of passengers) without serving DCA or LGA, so to claim a carrier can't be successful without serving them ignores prior history.
I largely agree. I still think that slots at slot-controlled airports should be auctioned off at regular intervals, but don't think that slot controls lead to any significant monopoly power.