Were there not posts in the past here by pilots saying raise tickets prices it will not effect traffic and thne they can raise our pay and go back to the good ole days? As posted all along raise tickets prices = fewer riders, therefore fewer airplanes nad fewer pilots.
Not sure what point you are trying to make or if you are simply reiterating what someone else said, but here's my $.02:
Raising ticket prices will not
affect ridership, except for those in the marginal bracket. Robbie the redneck retard will not take the kids to Disney World for $9 (or even $0!!!!) a ticket anymore. From an airline profitability standpoint, who cares? Business travelers don't care what it costs to go from Boston to LA any more than they care about filling up their Escalade with $5/gal unleaded. their demand is price inelastic; they will continue to travel. The airlines will have to cut capacity and raise fares to price the marginal riders out of the market. Say a one way fare is $500. If Arthur the attorney wants to go to Vegas roundtrip for he and the wifey he will gladly pay $2000 because he doesn't care what it costs, no more than he cares if unleaded goes to $10 a gallon. If he wants to go on vacation or drive to work, he will gladly pay it to fly or fill his tank. If a company wants skulls meeting face to face, they will pay for the ticket, charter or flight department.
This means:
Robbie is stuck in his trailer;
The rich stay rich, the poor stay poor, and the middle class (esp the lower-middle) will evaporate;
The airline bubble will burst just like the dot com burst.
Unfortunately this burst will see many employees displaced, some to other flying jobs and some will have to seek alternate careers. Hopefully pilot factories, colleges, and other flight schools will stop pumping out grads with a CFI ticket, 200 hrs, and a heartbeat. No more whoring-out of our industry. Those still determined to get into flying as a career will have to be even more stubborn and resourceful than before, and even then will have to instruct, tow banners, etc for 5-10 years to make it big in the airlines instead of just a few hundred hours and then off to swing gear in a shiny RJ.
Fewer routes, higher fares, fewer aircraft,
fewer pilots, and higher load factors will be the only way back into the black. There will still be enough demand for airlines to exist despite higher fares, however the extra supply has to go away. Maybe then we will see a return to the lucrative salaries and benefits seen in the past. Perhaps the sacrifice of a few pilots (
those simply in the wrong place at the wrong time) for the greater good of the rest?
Now those few will be scrambling to another career field or to another employer in aviation that doesn't rely on the marginal consumer, and can weather the storm of $130-$150 per barrel oil. Corporate, cargo, fractional, charter, etc...
$200-$250 a barrel oil could be over the horizon. Then who the hell knows. Canned food and underground bunkers!
We can only hope that the d-bag trash talkers out there get a new career mopping floors and that the hardworking honest folks putting food on the table for their wives & daughters can find another flying job.
Good Luck!
