Local Fox teevee station reports AA bankruptcy caused by INCREASING labor and fuel costs

[Bozita]

Fuel costs are higher, but RISING labor costs?

Anybody hear of employee wage increases in recent years at American Airlines?

I haven't, but I have read that AA was gonna try to LOWER its employee wage and benefit packages through the use of the bankruptcy courts. It's union busting, pure and simple.

FauxNews, we bullshit; you decide.

[Vincardog]

1. It is not union busting. It is Retirement theft.

[TheWraith]

2. Might have to do with pilots.

After Colgan Air had a commuter flight drop out of the sky in the Buffalo suburbs, a big deal was made out of the fact that the flight crew hadn't slept or left the airport for at least 20 hours prior to the flight. Tighter rules were implemented saying how long you could have pilots on duty without a break, etcetera. Shorter shifts means more pilots to do what was being done before. Although if you can't run an airline without pilots on 20 hour shifts, we're all probably better off if you're not running an airline.

[Yo_Mama]

6. Truer words were never written

"if you can't run an airline without pilots on 20 hour shifts, we're all probably better off if you're not running an airline."

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. Healthcare costs are skyrocketing.

I know, water is wet. Just a sad fact

[doc03]

4. It's the race to the bottom, Americans like to fly cheap on

non-union airlines. AA has no choice they can't lower fuel costs, maintenance costs or the cost of new airplanes so they have to cut labor. I suspect the first thing they will do if they haven't already is dump their defined benefits pensions on the already bankrupt PBGC (Pension Benefits Guarantee Corporation). The CEO of the PBGC said last week they have $28 billion in unfunded pension liabilities and eventually they are going to have to ask the federal government for a bailout. That has been the game plan ever since the government created the PBGC, you dump your pensions on the taxpayers. I get a pension from the PBGC myself and wonder for how long. When the day comes the PBGC asks for a bailout and the government is still run by Republicans we will out of a pension. I heard Republicans say many times in the past, why should taxpayers without a pension bailout union members that have them.

[SomethingFishy]

5. No, Americans are not paid well enough to fly on

"union airlines". I have managed to take my family on Vacation twice in the last 10 years. Both times we had to drive because flying was just too expensive.


Oh and American Airlines is going bankrupt because they are one of the shittiest Airlines out there.... One of the many I will never fly on again.

[doc03]

7. I have round trip tickets for Florida in February and they were

far cheaper than diving just for the gas alone then when you consider I would have to stay a night in a motel each way it is a bargain. I don't really know anymore what airlines are union for sure, my tickets for Florida are with Air Tran now owned by Southwest. I also have a trip planed for San Francisco on United same there it much cheaper to fly, especially if you consider you would have to spend several nights in a motel on the way. I haven't bought my tickets for the return trip from LA but as of yesterday AA had the best deal. Of course since the bankruptcy I may use another one. You are an expert on AA when you say you haven't been on a plane in ten years.

On Edit: I should have phrased that differently about Americans like to fly cheap on non-union airlines. Should read Americans like to fly cheap same as buy cheap like say Walmart. So companies that have union workers are forced to compete with cheap labor. That's your race to the bottom.

[lunasun]

8. United Airlines redux --same bs

[loudsue]

9. To say NOTHING about outrageous CEO salaries??? Let's see...how much do the top 5 executives

at American Airlines make? It's THEIR labor that costs WAY too much.

[kag]

10. You took the words right out of my fingers.

Sometimes I really wish you could rec a comment:-)

[ParkieDem]

13. Not disagreeing,

But airline execs make far less than those in other industries. Particularly their stock-based compensation, which at AA is now worth jack squat.

I read an interesting article this morning that said airlines are unique in that they are one of very, very few industries in which unions have to compete with one another. You have your flight attendants' union, pilots' union, mechanics' union and maybe one other union representing the employees, and management has to negotiate with all of those (and often plays them against one another). It's not like GM, where you just negotiate with the UAW, or UPS, where you just negotiate with the Teamsters.

[loudsue]

14. The employees should really think about taking over American Airlines.

We need another organization.....supplemental to unions...that helps employees take over their companies.

[ParkieDem]

15. United tried that back in the early 90s.

It didn't work so well.

[Brickbat]

11. It's because of rising health-care costs, which are passed off as labor costs.

[mmonk]

12. They always blame the symptoms rather than the policy.