As a wandering Aussie who's been living and working for a couple of Regional Airlines in the US for the last 9 years, I can say without any doubt, that this particular down-turn is the mother of all troughs.
I think the best way to describe it, is that it's a perfect storm in US aviation; US$ is in the ****ter, economy is taking a nose-dive and oil is spiralling out of control. They've never had to face all 3 factors conspiring against them at the same time. Added to which, when the cycle has turned against the US airlines in the past, they've always had more than a few years of profits to tide them over. This time they've had what, a year, maybe 2 of profits and this after bankruptcy for most?
It really is going to be bad in the US, United just announced close to a 1000 pilots furloughed/layed-off and that will go back to guys hired in '99/'00. The very same poor souls who've just got thier jobs back after being furloughed after 9-11. I've lost count of the airlines that have gone out of business in the last 12 months....maybe 7-8, I think. By the end of the year, you're going to see at least another 1000 on the streets from all the other legacy carriers.
Be very thankful you're not here
