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I call it "economic Darwinism".

The business climate changes and only the adaptable should survive.

The airlines do not deserve special protections, if they go out of business while airlines like Southwest prosper then this is their own damn fault.

   

Then why do you hate walmart so much? They are the essence of a buisness doing just that. They are insuring they can outcompete all other buisnesses. I think our gov't should step in to help our national businesses survive predatory tactics of huge multinational corps that can afford to run a specific part of their buisness at a loss in order to drive their competition out of buisness. Your view on airlines seems hypocritical. Walmart can take the stance that if noone can compete with them then its their own damn fault. How is this different?

   

I don't like Walmart and other large corporations because they do "kill" the smaller competition.... there are some govt regulations in the US that try to prevent a monopoly from occuring but in some cases i don't think they work too well....

as for the airlines, i think they are charging plenty for their flights, from a consumer point of view...but their overhead surely must be enormous...

   

ugh....costs $500 to fly to my mom's in VA, and $250 to my bro's in California....(when deals come)

that price SUCKS WDHIII.

   

A big problem for all airlines right now is the ever rising costs of fuel. Airplane fuel isn't cheap to begin with and considering the thousands of litres each plane needs coupled with the fact that the price keeps going up, it's no surprise that the airline who are on hte margins of solvency getting burned.

   

yeah, plus healthcare costs, payroll, terminal & equip, etc.

   

WalMart has NO competition. That's the difference. They are the biggest corporation in the WORLD.

Airlines are all on the same footing, if Southwest can prosper along with JetBlue then the others need to change their business models, but they don't want to or their unions are too inflexible to allow that to happen.

So they go out of business.

Do you drive a DeSoto or a Packard?

But you agree there is plenty of competition in the auto market, right?

WalMart is unique because it has no competition at its global scale and they act as a predator on small businesses and small communities. And they support oppression in China - something Sam Walton would have NEVER allowed when he was alive.

It used to be a good company but not anymore.

   

Supply and demand. It's why small countries have only one national airline - they don't have enough people and/or people flying to sustain two airlines.

If the airline can't compete with trains, buses, personal vehicles, then they will die away or become a luxury like limousines. You pay for the convenience of getting there right now.

That's why there was only one Concorde and why it was so prohibitively expensive.

Can't compete? See you later. Would you like to see your tax dollars used to keep a service like the Concorde running? Me neither. Bye Air Canada and anyone else who doesn't have a feasible business plan.

   

Walmart has competition from many sources. Sam Walton built a very successful company based on the buy bulk and sell cheaply to many. You are right that it exploits cheap labour from china or india but shoe companies have been doing it for years. Carpet companies exploit children because small hands are needed. Regardless.

Airlines are not all on the same footing. Within a country prhaps but not when competing globally. A chief complaint for our air industry was that it was only allowed restricted access to US markets while their airlines were given free access to ours. The gov't did step in to help them out many times. That I agree with. CEO's getting multi-million dollar payoffs for doing nothing and in some cases nearly destroying the company is something that should be treated as criminal.

   

   

The costs for Airlines to operate have grown considerably but the actual airfares that they charge really haven't increased in line with the cost increase. The only problem in the United States is that there were and still are too many airlines operating. They fight for the same pie and each seems to be getting a smaller slice of that pie. Discount airlines which cut overhead costs by operating in a no-frills manner can compete with the airlines that offer everything for nothing. If you want a drink on board then you should be willing to pay 5 or 6 bucks a shot. If you want a meal then you should be willing to pay for it.

As fuel prices increase more and more airlines will be forced to either discontinue services to less profitable flight legs or face the consequences. It is simple supply and demand. You don't need a flight every half hour to a destination that may need a couple of flights a day.

As someone once said..If you don't have the butts in the seats then it's not worth taking off.

   

like many other industries, is a created demand industry, and folks are 'discovering' that it isn't really a needed service. My sister is one of the nitwits who spends half of her life and most of her money going places that she doesn't need to be. I flew when I fought forest fires because I needed to for my job, the same when I was in the Armed Forces. Other than that I have flown once, to my sister's wedding, naturally.

   

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