less cost to the airlines. What are the downsides to this idea? Our major concern is; who designs, builds and manages this complex and far reaching construction project, and who can do it efficiently, on budget and on time? It is fine for Bob Crandall to champion a concept but concepts are as good as our new World Trade Center; seven years and waiting. Both the MTA and Amtrak have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent. Giving them a project of this complexity would be the equivalent of flushing money down the drain. I can see us twenty years down the road and nothing accomplished; ala the Second Avenue subway. Crandall then went on to talk about how the unrestrained competitive environment fostered in the 80's has actually hurt the industry. He went on to talk about the aviation industry maybe being a hybrid; not really fully private and not really public either. This again is worth examining further because it to has merit. Aviation needs to be regulated because of safety issues and because the skies and the facilities are not able to owned by any one entity. They have to be shared and used wisely. So government has a key role. But where does the line of demarcation end between private and public? As witness to the Valentines Day problems last year and the ensuing unwise and eventually overturned "New York Passenger Bill of Rights" law; government can and will over-reach and become controlling. They will pass bills with unintended consequences that makes life more unpleasant and often more expensive. Another fact is that unfortunately, in our country, politicians are usually lawyers, and often are government employees for life. This is the primary reason why our politicians have little or no experience in the real world. Look at our current Presidential candidates, honorable men perhaps but not one job between them. So frankly, we do not trust government to come up with the full answer, only that part of the problem that deals within the public domain. Perhaps the answer lies in the structure set up to correct the winter Olympic fiasco in Denver ten years or so ago; manage it with a private consortium under a man with both private and public executive experience - Mitt Romney - and then, provide guidance via elected officials. This utilizes the best solutions from both worlds; public and private. Surprisingly, Crandall discussed one of our favorite topics, the viability of Stewart Airport and how a rail connection between that airport and New York City is a natural. Suffering the loss of two carriers is not easy for Stewart to absorb, but the concept of Stewart as a natural relief valve for the metro airports as well as a "hub" for the Hudson Valley has not gone unnoticed and is still very alive and well. It is a setback but very temporary. The other hot button items that Crandall touched on and which deserves some commentary are the subjects of jobs, salaries, outsourcing and unions. If you want to talk about controversy, then spend some time talking about the outsourcing of maintenance and the greatly reduced salaries of the men and women whose life we put in their hands when a plane flies from Point A to Point B. Some of the salaries for flight crews are low enough for them to qualify for food stamps. Between the over-reaching and expensive leverage and control that the unions had in the 50's and 60's and the complete lack of power that employees have today there has to be a point of compromise. Going back to aviations glory days; we recall some of the union abuses of in those years with incidents such as one union member punching in 15 others for work. Those were the kinds of abuses that sunk many of the legacy airlines and have caused the anti-union sentiment and resultant labor relations today. But that was then and now is now. The disparity between the way the executives enrich themselves and the paltry salaries paid to the people who make the airlines work is an issue that must be resolved. The industry just cannot count on these financial sacrifices forever. |
