mid

Bleh. Monopolist rates? You think that if there was one surviving airline in the whole US and they jacked up rates to $2000 RT per passenger that there wouldn't be someone out there the next week offering flights for $1000?

Creative destruction and consolidation is a FEATURE of a vibrant economy.

Bankruptcy? Big deal.

Consolidation? Big deal.

Less capacity? Aren't you arguing for that anyhow? You think FlyI should give up the ghost because they see Adam Smith's hand moving their way?

Higher fares? See less capacity.

You seem SO worried about all this money being wasted...whose money is it? Not mine! Those investors are the ones who signed up. As well as the investors of GE and Airbus. I don't own stock of either of those companies so once again: What do I care?

BTW, anyone can write a book these days. Just because he got some ink onto a page doesn't mean he's right.

MFLetou

[QUOTE=BearX220].

For mid: thank you for your comments. No, consumers aren't stupid -- to a point. You naturally prefer a low fare, but now irrational carriers like FlyI have taught people to expect fares that don't cover the cost of transporting them. You know it costs more than $40 to fly you IAD-BOS -- your share of landing fees and jet fuel alone come to more than that. So when you opt for the lowest fare you are opting to sustain chaos in the marketplace.

In other economic sectors there are laws against "dumping" -- selling imported goods for less than their cost of manufacture -- for precisely this reason.

QUOTE]

Sorry, but the statement about creating chaos in the market place but selecting $40 fares is just crazy.

The concept you aren't getting is that not every fare is $40. On some days, on some flights, it might be...but try getting that fare during peak hours and travel times. I've seen FlyI charged $189 one way on that same route--which is far more than fees, fuels and 10 percent profit. I'm not complaining about that, its all supply and demand.

But my point is that you can certainly offer these very low fares and still be competitive by charging more when you can. It evens out in the end...you might lose money on a given pax, but you'll make it up by overcharging another passenger who really needs to be on that flight and pays for it.

For some of these flights, the altnerative is NO revenue at all. So FLYI rightly figures that it would rather re-coop at least some of the cost by charging $40 and getting some pax rather than flying an mostly empty plane and getting nothing.

If you want proof that you can charge very low fares and be profitable, just hop over to BWI (something I hate to do). I was looking at the Ding! fares last night..BWI-PVD $23 one way (total roundtrip with taxes came to $66). And there was plenty of availability on that fare. They're not losing money.

MFLetou

Not all, of course, are "Chinatown" buses. And some probably are legit. The one you took bills itself as a 'deluxe' service and probably is above board. But there have been numerous stories about the organized crime connections to these bus lines, and NYPD OCCB (Organized Crime Control Bureau) has been investigating.

In addition, NYPD seized 16 buses for safety violations in 2004, in one of many incidents (in March one caught on fire in CT). Steer clear of these things, and we better hope FlyI isn't run like that!

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/sto...3p-84289c.html
Chinatown bus war
fuels probe

Slain businessman tied to mob, cops say

By PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


Buses line up along Forsyth St. between Division St. an East Broadway, waiting to bring passengers to Chinatowns in other cities.

De Jian Chen was chased down and riddled with bullets last month, dying in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge, around the corner from where Chinese immigrant workers, college students and tourists board idling buses with exotic names like Dragon Coach, Lotus Tours and Fung Wah.
De Jian Chen was a player in Chinatown's lucrative and violent discount bus wars.

Some 250 coach buses and vans ferry people in and out of Chinatown daily, taking gamblers to Atlantic City and commuters from Chinatown to Flushing, Queens, and Sunset Park, Brooklyn. But the most profitable runs are to other East Coast Chinatowns.

Fares range from $12 to $35, which in some cases is nearly half the cost charged by established bus companies. Authorities estimate the New York to Philadelphia route alone can bring a Chinatown business more than $1 million a year.

With such profits, the legitimate businesses may have drawn the tentacles of organized crime - the Chinatown gangsters who prey on fellow immigrants.

The Manhattan district attorney's office is working to build a racketeering case, law enforcement sources said.




http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vne.../403f0ca9d80d7
Crime Connected to Chinatown Buses
Murders in Chinatown Blamed on Drivers of Low-Priced Bus Services
By Josh Pozen
Spectator Staff Writer

February 27, 2004

Charging just $10 to travel from Manhattan to Boston, the bus companies that run out of New York City's Chinatown may seem like a student's dream come true--that is, if one can overlook this week's murder investigation.

Police have been investigating various crimes in the area that they believe are connected to the low-fare bus businesses operating in numerous Chinatowns across the Northeast. In New York, two men have been stabbed to death on the streets of Chinatown since October, both of whom worked for such companies.

On Oct. 30, 2003, Zhen Ki Li, a 31-year-old employee of the New Century Bus Company, was stabbed nine times on the corner of Pike and Henry Streets. The investigation of the stabbing quickly yielded the alleged murderer--Li's business partner, Lei Chen.

The latest crime associated with this industry--for which no one has been charged--occurred weeks ago, on the corner of Division and Market Streets, when one bus company employee was stabbed 17 times. According to a spokesman for the fifth precinct, which includes Chinatown, police suspect that the murderer is a driver for one of the companies.

A massive surprise inspection, which affected all of the Chinatown bus companies, came a week later. The Organized Crime Investigation Division and the NYPD searched about 100 of these buses, 16 of which have been taken off the road until certain mechanical problems are fixed. Fung Wah Bus, the first line of Chinatown buses and, according to its Website, also "the largest bus service provider between New York and Boston," had two of its buses confiscated in last week's inspection.