Attention All Pilots: A Chance to be Heard!

[Eagle757shark]

To all my fellow airline crewmembers, as you know our industry is facing a major crisis. The airline industry is in uncharted territory with the high cost of fuel. Now you have an opportunity to be heard regardless of your political affiliation. All the major airlines are on board. It is time your voice be heard. It may not seem like much, but you should go to the link listed below. It could be your way to help save our industry. Stop Oil Speculation Now!
Here is the Link:
www.stopoilspeculationnow.com

A year ago, many of us were excited about the growth opportunities in our industry. All the major airlines were hiring or in the process of recalling furloughees. Now many carriers are proposing furloughs and pay cuts. Folks take a moment to let your voice be heard! Best of luck to us all!

 

[kngarthur]

To all my fellow airline crewmembers, our industry is facing a major crisis. The airline industry is in uncharted territory with the cost of fuel. You have an opportunity now to be heard, regardless of your political affiliation. All the major airlines are on board. It is time your voice be heard. It may not seem like much, but you should go to the link listed below. It could be your way to help save our industry. Stop Oil Speculation Now!
Here is the Link:
www.stopoilspeculationnow.com

A year ago, many of us were excited about the growth opportunities in our industry. All the major airlines were hiring or in the process of recalling furloughees. Now many carriers are proposing furloughs and pay cuts. Folks take a moment to let your voice be heard! Best of luck to us all!

But I thought we all wanted to reduce our carbon footprint?

 

[Eagle757shark]

Democrat, Republican, or Independent doesn't matter. Last year this time we were paying around $2.90 a gallon for fuel. With a possible flare up in the middle east between Isreal and Iran, and a possible active hurricane season something must be done. Learn more about oil speculation (its more than just supply and demand). www.stopoilspeculationnow.com

 

[Frank Lorenzo]

I agree!

Sign up now.

Help out an airline executive. After all, they have done so much to help you out.

 

[Soverytired]

Let's get one thing straight . . . just because the cost of oil doubled doesn't mean the demand doubled. Once there is limited supply for an irreplaceable commodity, prices will go nuts.

So if oil producing capacity is 100%, a demand for 105% of that is going to allow sellers to raise the price far, far more than a mere 5%.

This seems obvious, but based on the large number of whiners crying "but demand didn't double" simply don't seem to get this.

 

[Freeze_gopher]

Soverytired,

You're right, problem is that supply is greater than demand. Look at the EIA's website. It very clearly shows that if you use the annual run rate for oil consumption next year and the EIA's estimate for production, we get a surplus of 920,000 barrels every day. This year we have a surplus of 650,000 barrels every day. Find out how much the strategic reserve for China is, I'll give you a hint, it's almost as much as Saudi Arabia. Supply is not the issue.

 

[Soverytired]

Soverytired,

You're right, problem is that supply is greater than demand. Look at the EIA's website. It very clearly shows that if you use the annual run rate for oil consumption next year and the EIA's estimate for production, we get a surplus of 920,000 barrels every day. This year we have a surplus of 650,000 barrels every day. Find out how much the strategic reserve for China is, I'll give you a hint, it's almost as much as Saudi Arabia. Supply is not the issue.

Educated opinions vary; I don't have a frikin' clue if it's supply, or demand, or refinery capacity, or speculation, subsidized oil in developing countries, etc. etc.

All I do know is this: The US has failed for decades to approach energy seriously. The left won't drill, or build nukes, or allow wind power/solar power in many places. The right won't use tax credits or research grants to stimulate alternative sources, or change the CAFE standards.

Now we have both parties who don't know how to fix this overnight, because it can't BE fixed overnight. But a scapegoat looks nice, and why not blame "evil" oil companies, or speculators, or both? Again, I'm no expert, but this has the all too familiar smell of decades of government incompetence and a "lets find an easy scapegoat" mentality behind it.

My .02, and my gut feeling. I do know that when government starts regulating private enterprise, the cost to the consumer almost invariably rises.

Also . . if it IS a speculative bubble, it WILL burst, eventually. If the housing bubble of the past 10 years taught us anything, it certainly proved at that bubbles only last so long, and the last guys holding the bag get cleaned out. Unfortunately, just like the housing bubble, a lot of people will get hurt in the process.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen.
(That's saying a lot on FI)

CE

 

[Superpilot92]

Most people will be to lazy to read whats on the link but it has alot of good info

Soverytired,

You're right, problem is that supply is greater than demand. Look at the EIA's website. It very clearly shows that if you use the annual run rate for oil consumption next year and the EIA's estimate for production, we get a surplus of 920,000 barrels every day. This year we have a surplus of 650,000 barrels every day. Find out how much the strategic reserve for China is, I'll give you a hint, it's almost as much as Saudi Arabia. Supply is not the issue.

http://www.riverfrontig.com/commentaries/pdfs/strategic/sv063008.pdf

 

[Palmtree Pilot]

To all my fellow airline crewmembers, as you know our industry is facing a major crisis. The airline industry is in uncharted territory with the high cost of fuel. Now you have an opportunity to be heard regardless of your political affiliation. All the major airlines are on board. It is time your voice be heard. It may not seem like much, but you should go to the link listed below. It could be your way to help save our industry. Stop Oil Speculation Now!
Here is the Link:
www.stopoilspeculationnow.com

A year ago, many of us were excited about the growth opportunities in our industry. All the major airlines were hiring or in the process of recalling furloughees. Now many carriers are proposing furloughs and pay cuts. Folks take a moment to let your voice be heard! Best of luck to us all!

I'm sorry, but who do you think is going to hear you? Airlines have been laying off hundreds of peeps by the day, and... NOBODY, I mean NOBODY(including the Democratic Gov't) has been paying any attention, let alone screeming about it.

You people better learn how to invest(save your money) or hang on.

Seriously????

PtP

Go ahead, FLAME ME!

 

[blueridge71]

Now AOPA is plugging this site as well.

Here is my letter to Congress:

AOPA and the airlines are barking up the wrong tree by attacking commodities traders. IF speculation is actually driving prices up, it is only a symptom of the problem of supply and demand.

There is too much demand and we don't access the supplies that we have thanks to special interest groups. We need to start drilling and building more nuclear power plants immediately. We have only built one refinery since the 1970s and 90% of our domestic offshore oil reserves (billions, if not trillions, of barrels) are off limits.

Government regulation and environmental special interests are to blame for much of our distress. Thirty years of mismanagement cannot be overturned with a bill attacking "evil capitalists."

An immutable law of supply and demand is that as demand increases, the price increases. The only ways to reduce price are by either reducing demand or increasing supply. That is where we should be focusing our efforts.

 

[Superpilot92]

[FONT=verdana,geneva]On several occasions in the past few months, I have written about the impact of skyrocketing fuel prices on airline customers – in their daily lives and when they travel (Final Approach May 1 and Final Approach May 28 ). In the long run, to lower oil prices for all Americans, we need to increase domestic supply, increase exploration, alternative energy sources and conservation. However, one near-term solution to the problem is for government to investigate and rein in oil speculators.

What is the Commodities Market? – Commodities are raw materials purchased by manufacturers of finished products such as food manufacturers, oil refiners or builders. Businesses that are highly dependent on oil – refineries, heating oil dealers, airlines and trucking companies among others – lessen their risk of significant price fluctuations by purchasing future delivery contracts at predetermined prices in what is known as the commodities or futures markets. The two largest U.S. commodities markets or futures exchanges are the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange, where people trade standardized futures contracts; that is, a contract to buy specific quantities of a commodity at a specified price with delivery set at a specified time in the future.

What is the Problem with Oil? – There is a significant disconnect between the paper market for oil (speculators) and the physical market for oil (consumers). In recent years, speculators have taken advantage of actual consumers of oil by bidding up the price for futures contracts. If a speculator purchases a contract for delivery of oil at a high price six or 12 months in the future but has no intention of actually taking delivery of the oil in that contract, then a physical customer who needs that oil – to deliver home heating oil, to operate trucks or airplanes, or even to process in a refinery – will be forced to pay the higher price in order to obtain the oil that is needed.

How Do They Get Away with That? – Increasingly, sophisticated institutional investors have managed to manipulate the rules and regulations governing commodities transactions through a series of exemptions and waivers, including the so-called “Enron loophole,” low margin requirements and the dodging of U.S. public disclosure requirements. These complex arrangements have a similar impact: They put people engaged in oil-related businesses at a disadvantage with those who gamble relatively small sums that the price of oil will increase out of proportion to marketplace demands. If that happens, as it has regularly over the past few years, those who need oil for their businesses pay a premium, which is passed on to you – the consumer.

What Can Government Do Now? – In the near term, Congress needs to address the impact of unchecked speculation in the commodities market.

Commodities trading is overseen by a small, but very powerful government agency known as the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) . Congress can require the CFTC to implement a host of controls such as imposing limits on the quantity of commodities contracts speculators may purchase, closing the loopholes that allow speculators to trade exempt from any government oversight or regulation, and requiring reporting by those who are engaging in speculation.

Experts say that closing regulatory loopholes in the trading of commodity futures will result in a significant reduction in fuel prices.

What’s Next? – Congress is expected to debate some of these issues in the next few weeks and it is urgent that they hear your voice. To facilitate public participation in the debate over speculators, we have launched a broad-based coalition, S.O.S. NOW, that provides a wide array of information on speculation and its impact on the price we all pay for oil. S.O.S. NOW stands for Stop Oil Speculation Now, and we urge you to go to the Web site www.stopoilspeculationnow.com and send a message to Congress about oil speculation.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva]Sincerely,[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,geneva]James C. May
President and CEO
Air Transport Association
[/FONT]

 

[JumpJetter]

or try signing this petition.

http://www.americansolutions.com/default.aspx

 

[Superpilot92]

Some Very Good Points In This !!!

Steenland Cites Oil Speculation in Thursday’s Erratic Closing Markets

Northwest Airlines President and CEO Doug Steenland criticized financial speculation in light of today’s rapid run-up in oil prices in the final hour of trading and said, “If anybody needed any further evidence that the oil markets are being directly influenced and affected by financial speculation, today’s result ends that debate.”

He added, “With no single event occurring that would cause supply to decrease or demand for oil to increase, the price in the last 20 minutes of trading went up about $5 a barrel as a result of financial players, near the close of trading, coming into the market and driving up price.”

Steenland, who is also the Chairman of the Board of the Air Transport Association, recently testified in Congress on this issue, and added, “Today’s result is the poster child of why Congress needs to take immediate action to change the law and stop these abuses from adversely affecting the U.S. economy and consumers.”

Over the last year, the price of crude oil has more than doubled. To help fix these unprecedented oil challenges, Steenland favors increasing domestic supply, further oil exploration in the United States, investing in alternative energy sources, and conservation.

 

[blueridge71]

The cumulative effect of anti-speculating legislation will be to waste time. It may eventually lead to a leftist push to nationalize the oil companies, a goal that some Democrats are already talking about.

I predict little noticeable change in the price of oil if this legislation passes.