I am calling on all of you to please increase your travel, and do mileage runs, because the airlines and the entire travel industry is in trouble.

Basically, it is hysteria -- the media talks about how the planes are so empty, etc., and then people think flying is unsafe.

Personally, I don't feel any threat to my safety flying versus doing any other normal activity, such as driving or working in an office building.

What frightens me are all these cutbacks in flights. This makes travel less convenient, more expensive, and also causes tremendous loss of jobs. It is a ripple effect -- it's not just the airlines, but the hotels, tourist attractions, restaurants, etc.

I don't want to minimize what happened last week (which was a huge tragedy in itself), but I also feel terrible for all these hard working people who will lose their jobs.

Mileage runs are now more than just about the joy of flying, and the miles, but about a crusade to rescue the airline industry from disaster and restore the confidence of the traveling public.

We all have our complaints about the airlines, but when I reflect back on all the great service I have experienced, the helpful people I have encountered, and all the safe flights I've had all over the world, I can't help feeling really guilty that the airline industry is such a victim of this tragedy.

We need to show our support, or else the airlines and all the perks we expect and appreciate, will disappear.

Couldn't agree with you more. I bought some LUV today and will resume flying as soon as flights out of ANC are a bit less backlogged.

I hope Congress gets that aid package ready soon.

Never really been one to self-promote one of my threads, but please visit the following to help out the airlines most. Half the fun of the mileage run is get the miles, why not give some miles back and start on mileage runs again in addition.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/005238.html

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"Fly me to the moon and let me earn alot of miles."

I think it is great to donate miles to charity, to give blood, to volunteer, etc. I certainly advocate doing so. Due to the heroic efforts of the Ameircan people, there has been a lot of money raised, lots of miles donated, and lots of blood collected. And those efforts should continue in full force. I will donate blood as soon as I can get an appointment to do so, even though I'll just be indirectly helping 2500 miles away...

But we also need to fly, even if it is on low fare tickets, to get traffic levels up and keep airline employees employed.

The airlines aren't going to be there for us when demand returns if we don't support them now. Another way we can help is by booking future travel now. The airlines need cash flow and are making long term decisions based on bookings in the next few days.

I don't mean to be insensitive in light of the horror that took place last Tuesday, but the airlines are not going to recover unless we support them.

Not so fast---donating miles is one thing but to buy airplane tickets just to help the industry is another.

The airlines have asked something to the tune of 21B dollars or else. . . . .

I agree that the airlines should be compensated for the shut down of all air travel last week(they did not ask for that) but many of the problems they are faced with were there before September 11th.

I can't see subsidizing the airlines with my time and money because of what happened. There are several reasons:

1. The trickle of people who will act this way with me are not going to make a dent, remember MOST people have never done a mileage run, that is something rather unique to the addicted people on this board.

2. The airline industry was lossing significant amounts of money before last week and the reason for that is that the industry had contracted when the airlines weren't looking. Last week only made a bad situation worse.

3. The industry needs to adjust to the current conditions, or it will not get healthy again. Flying empty planes with two or three FLyertalkers on board can't keep them financially strong forever. And flyertalkers do not have enough money to keep the airlines going forever.

4. I don't want to see any airline employee lose a job because most of them have very little control over the health of their companies but if it were going to happen to me I wouldn't want to postpone the inevitiable. It is a bit like the timber industry in the Pacific Northwest, ther was a huge cutback in logging in the early 90's and logging towns argued that if they couldn't continue cutting the towns would go under and a "way of life" would be lost. But if something isn't sustainable you can't prop it up forever. Eventually something has to change. The airlines were going to have to make changes two weeks ago, today the changes are more substantial but just as necessary.

DAS -- you're 100% right.

The airlines need our help now, and I'd argue that it's far more patriotic for Americans to buy a r/t liesure ticket right now than to fly a flag.

Take a trip in the next few weeks -- preferably a domestic one, and you'll help boost the hotel, restaurant and tourist-attraction industries along the way, too.

It would be obscene if bin Laden & his ghouls manage to kill United, Continental or others ... clearly the terrorism has done deep and long-term damage to commercial aviation, but it does NOT have to be fatal. Not if enough Americans resolve to fight back.

If we make empty excuses and simply complain 'the airlines were in trouble anyway,' then we're doing nothing to help. If we each try to encourage friends and business associates to fly, and if we each buy one or two r/t tix -- even discount fares -- we'll at least have taken a shot at helping rescue the airlines.

Airlines face at least two major challenges now: Immediate and mid-range financial crisis, and the risk of long-term consumer fear.

FlyerTalk members can make a dent - admittedly a tiny one, but nevertheless a dent - in the financial end. But our presence on planes will go a lot farther toward restoring confidence of the legions of flyers who simply won't fly right now.

Blaming the media misses the mark -- the press says the airlines are flying at 40 percent capacity because the airlines ARE flying at 40 percent. If enough Americans helped raise load factors to 70 percent, that's what the media would report.

And higher load factors -- with film of plenty of travelers at American airports -- would go a long way to drawing back the business and leisure markets that the airlines MUST regain to survive.

For my part, I WANT to see DL succeed -- watching its first flight out of Hartford last Thursday was the most inspirational and patriotic sight I'd seen all week. It meant a lot more to the future of our quality of life & to our fundamental freedoms than a half-dozen flag rallies.

If one act of terrorism can dismantle the heart of our transportation system -- with all the collateral damage that will do to our economy -- we as a nation will be the weaker.

God bless the workers of the airlines for their bravery in flying after Sept. 11, and God bless the passengers for showing true patriotism and courage.



[This message has been edited by Don (edited 09-17-2001).]

I believe that the airlines will always be there in one form or another. They are just as vital to US national security as any other weapons that they have.

Whether or not they will have the same names or will be capitalized in the same manner as they are now remains to be seen IMO.

I don't think it's necessary to go out and but a ticket however....the US government will bail them out for their losses over the last week.

Well, I for one am buying stock in the airlines and looking for mileage run opportunities. I agree that we should all do what we can to support the airlines in whatever way possible and this was the only thing I could think of right now.

Couldn't agree with you folks better!
I am willing to show my patriotism in defending American businesses.

However, with my limited income, realistically, I am hoping these airlines will lower their fares or have some sort of sale.

I'm ready to buy tickets, but I need the airlines to start bringing back the fare specials. If AA extended the TPE fares, I'd happily buy another ticket and I'm definitely in the market for some cheap fares to Europe.

I did buy some NWAC and MEH today as a patriotic gesture.

What do NWAC and MEH mean? Thanx

NWAC: Northwest Airlines Corporation

MEH: Midwest Express Holdings, Inc.

Another way to help the airlines is to buy miles from them. You can buy miles directly from UA's website. I don't know about the others. The price is pretty high, but look at it as a donation with a small payback to yourself. A definite win/win situation, IMO.

I've already planned all my travel for the rest of this year. Will have to wait for winter-sport schedules to come up before I can start buying for 2K2.