Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Just curious but which airlines do you fly to North America that have no record of getting massive government bailouts and/or of using their loyalty program schemes for a Ponzi-like financial lift? SAS’s financial bleed seems like minnow flow compared to the past bleed of much bigger TATL-flying whales.
These shell games played by airlines — SAS included this time again — seem like a shareholder/management -driven street hustle that comes with no guarantee of great, sustainable winnings no matter the labor cost argument used.
Originally Posted by
FlyingMoose
I'm unclear on the relevance. I care about fare cost, service and reach. The TATL-flying whales as you call them, provide me with a lower fare cost, a better service and greater reach. SAS seems to struggle to compete and labor cost is and has been a large contributing factor to that.
The reason why the US airlines can provide their service at a lower cost is that they used state subsidies and chapter 11 regulations to get rid of debt obligations they were unable to fulfil, employee pensions and benefits they did not feel like paying, and get out of leasing contracts they voluntarily entered into but wanted to get out of. No wonder they can end up with lean operations when they never really had to pay for past mismanagement.