Honest question, is it better to let every airline fail except, like Delta the one that has a decent balance sheet and could weather the storm? Or worse let them all fail? What kind of effects would that have on travel/ the economy?
My personal opinion on airlines is: fuck 'em
They have, through consolidation, formed a cartel, and have engaged in blatant price fixing, resulting in massive profits. Which they largely have used to buy back their own stock and pay executives. It has always been a cyclical industry, their failure to plan for bad times when making record profits is on them. In addition, the industry can easily continue to operate through any bankruptcy proceedings.
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How do you spend $15b buying stock when your airline is worth $6b?
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The planes and airports wonât disappear.
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Absolutely fuck 'em. They knew exactly what they were doing. Raid the piggy bank - enrich executives with stock buybacks. Ask for bailout during the next downturn. We canât keep allowing this moral hazard. Eventually weâre going to hit a tipping point where the govt piggy bank runs dry. We may be there.
Wonât happen though.
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Itâs not just Wall St. that will be hurt if American folds, people have tens of billions tied up in frequent flier programs.
LOLOLOL but who will think of the Platinum Diamond Super Duper Elite!?
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I sincerely hope that was sarcasm.
It wasnât
lmfao
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But itâs not like it would be a seamless shift. Who is paying the employees paychecks once the owners run out of money, for example?
My retirement plan is 20% stocks/10% bonds/70% frequent flyer miles
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No one. They gotta get new jobs with whatever new airlines end up using those planes. I donât see why the government should give money to the airlines (er, investors) instead of the people though. Not that investors are not people, but distribute the money based on need or just split it up equally, but donât do it based on how badly your investments have gone.
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I figure if I can collect enough frequent flier miles I wonât need to pay a mortgage or rent, or spend money on foodâIâll just live in airport lounges and occasionally fly to a new airport when I get bored. Read more in my thinkpiece on Forbes.com about how millenials are hacking retirement once again!
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15 million Americans work in hospitality They are going to have to be bailed out.
The workers can go live in squalor under a bridge. Only the shareholders matter.
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If only there were a way for failing businesses to continue operating or liquidate after they fail. Or, alternatively, for laid off employees to receive money after they lose their jobs through no fault of their own.
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This is an oddly right wing take.
Ok, but itâs going to shut down for a time, right? Their planes will not be flying. It seems like that would cause other potentially serious issues outside their company, especially if you have a significant number collapse at once, right? I donât know if itâs always the best idea to just let them all collapse if it would cause a major disruption to travel. But I did t really know what kind of disruption it would be, so maybe my concerns arenât that big a deal.