Everyone Better Read This!!!!!!!!!!!

[browntail]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 7, 2003

Contact: Pia Pialorsi (McCain)
(202) 224-2670
Andy Davis (Hollings)
(202) 224-6654




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Future of Airline Industry Hearing Set for January 9


Washington, DC -- Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Fritz Hollings
(D-SC) today announced the witness list for the full committee hearing on
the Future of the Airline Industry. The hearing is scheduled for Thursday,
January 9, at 9:30 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Members will examine the structure of the airline industry and actions
being taken by the industry to ensure long-term viability. Members will also
consider the impacts of the current structure of the industry on
competition, and the potential effects of any further downturn in traffic
for the traveling public. In addition, Members may discuss the potential
effects of consolidation and other potential actions affecting the industry
and the consumer.

Following is the tentative witness list (not necessarily in order of
appearance):

Panel I
Mr. Jeffrey N. Shane, Associate Deputy Secretary, Department of
Transportation

Panel II
Mr. Donald J. Carty, CEO American Airlines
Mr. Richard H. Anderson, CEO Northwest Airlines
Mr. David N. Siegel, President & CEO US Airways
Professor Alfred Kahn, Robert Julius Thorne Professor of Political
Economy Emeritus
Mr. Duane Woerth, President, Airline Pilots Association
Mr. Kevin Mitchell, Chairman, Business Travelers Coalition



Now we have three CEO's and One union leader at this meeting! Gee I wonder what McCain and Hollings have on their mind when it comes to our future. MMMMM Let me guess they think I should get paid minimum wage, unlimited flight and duty times with three days off per month. You guys better start contacting your reps and make some major noise. These bozo's won't be happy until they completely ruin our careers.

 

[ExAF]

BOHICA

BOHICA....that's what it means!

 

[browntail]

The post is meant to inform you that our interests as aviators (regardless of size of aircraft) are going to be out numbered during this important meeting. They won't just target the majors, no they will mess with the entire RLA which screws us all!!

 

[AAflyer]

browntail,

We are getting some prelim reports from our lobby group in DC that McCains drive does not have the momentum it should have built up. The only CEOs who are targeting RLA vocally at least are Carty, Mullin, and Smith.

Like you mentioned it will impact EVERYONE. Infact the pilot group is just the start. If you take away labors right to bargain in good faith, and then take away the right for self help just think of all the other industries that could someday have a contract crammed down their throat.

Should be intresting to watch, hopefully it will be on CSPAN.

AAflyer

 

[FL000]

a news summary...

from
Fredericksburg.com


Execs Say War Could Worsen Airlines' Woes



Airline executives told Congress on Thursday that their companies still face major financial problems that probably will worsen if America goes to war with Iraq.

Air travel has yet to return to pre-Sept. 11 levels. The number of people flying in November was down almost 18 percent from November 2000, according to the Transportation Department.

Since the attacks, the major airlines have laid off more than 80,000 employees, cut wages for others and reduced the number of flights, but they still expect to lose $9 billion last year. Two have filed for bankruptcy in the last six months _ United Air Lines and US Airways.

"We've got most of the airlines broke and the rest of them begging," said South Carolina Sen. Ernest Hollings, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee that held a hearing on the financial condition of the airlines.

War in Iraq could make a bad situation even worse, American Airlines chief executive Don Carty told the committee. When the Gulf War occurred more than a decade ago, Carty said air travel plummeted.

What Congress can do to help the airlines "depends largely on whether or not we have a war with Iraq," he said.

Congress has twice helped the airlines since Sept. 11. In November 2001, President Bush signed into law a $15 billion aid package that included $5 billion in cash assistance and a $10 billion loan guarantee program.

Last year, Congress enacted a law to extend government-issued war-risk insurance and to limit liability against companies for the terrorist attacks, saving airlines an estimated $1 billion.

Carty said airlines need more, but he said they have yet to reach consensus on what Congress can do to help. Northwest Airlines' Chief Executive Richard Anderson also testified that the airlines need relief. Other airlines were represented as spectators by the Air Transport Association.

Some lawmakers were skeptical that more government aid is needed.

Incoming committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., said low-fare carriers such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue are making money. "The moral of the story is that every airline does not have to be unprofitable," he said.

Still, the committee pledged to look at a range of issues this year, including:

_Are U.S. airports adequately protected from anti-aircraft missiles, such as the one fired at an Israeli jet in Kenya last year?

_Should the limit on foreign investment in U.S. airlines be raised? And are foreign governments unfairly subsidizing Airbus Industries, the European manufacturer that is the chief rival to Boeing Co.?

Lawmakers also raised concerns that airline agreements to book passengers on each other's flights are anticompetitive. The Transportation Department is considering a proposal for Continental, Northwest and Delta to enter into such an alliance.

Several senators questioned whether the Air Transportation Stabilization Board was carrying out the wishes of Congress when it rejected applications for loan guarantees from United Airlines and others.

McCain and Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., filed a bill to amend a 1926 labor law to require arbitration between management and labor if a contract can't be negotiated.

Hollings said he expected to investigate whether the Federal Aviation Administration has enough inspectors to adequately oversee financially troubled airlines.

Major airlines have said they want to eliminate the $2.50 tax levied on every leg of a flight to pay for aviation security, but the executives didn't ask for it at the committee hearing. They say that cutthroat price competition doesn't allow them to pass that cost onto their customers.

A Bush administration official said the airlines won't get far if they ask for the tax to be rescinded.

"The administration's position, I'm sure, is that tax relief is not an appropriate measure," said Jeffrey Shane, associate deputy secretary of transportation.

Lott predicted Congress will pass two or three bills dealing with airline issues, but didn't say what they'd do. Lott is the incoming chairman of the aviation subcommittee.

 

[crosscut]

Re: a news summary...

from
Fredericksburg.com
...Lott predicted Congress will pass two or three bills dealing with airline issues, but didn't say what they'd do...

No $hit he didn't say, he learned his lesson.

 

[ultrarunner]

Good grief...more talk about how this "war" is going to ruin our economy. If those numb-nuts that are getting their testimony spiffed up, had any sense, they just say.... "drop a few megatons on these problem spots and we'll get back to business....." War...good grief.

 

[skydash]

Great....Fritz"Foghorn Leghorn"Hollings who is too stupid to breathe holding a meeting on the future of aviation. This industry is doomed.

 

[Wise Guy]

CONTACT YOUR REPS!

I watched the hearing on CSPAN last night and it is clear that McCain's number one agenda is throwing out the RLA. He is clearly anti-labor, pro big business. It was infuriating to watch. And to think I used to think he was a good Senator...live and learn. If he had his way, good faith barganing and labor's right to strike would be history. Isn't that socialism? Get involved and write your Congressmen!

 

[LittleDeuce]

RLA

Sen. McCain is correct. The RLA was passed by Congress in 1926 to prevent labor unrest in the railway industry from having serious economic consequences.

Why do we hang on to an outdated concept?