From today's NY Times:
To the Editor:
"The Impossible Demands on America's Airlines" (Week in Review, June 16) leads to an inescapable conclusion: The American airline industry must undergo structural reforms to continue playing a vital role in our economy. To continue the low fares and ubiquitous service that customers demand, airline labor costs, which can reach 40 percent of operating expenses, must be realigned.
The major obstacle to this is the Railway Labor Act of 1926, which saddles labor and management with cumbersome dispute-resolution procedures that provide no practical mechanism for reducing labor costs. Even in the best of times, the act leads to acrimonious negotiations, including threatened strikes and strikes.
For airlines to stop limping from crisis to crisis, and for the public to be well served, part of the solution must include reform of the arcane Railway Labor Act.
NEIL GOLDSCHMIDT
Washington, June 20, 2002
The writer was secretary of transportation, 1979-80.