Max Angle is max right on !!!
I do not intend to be insulting nor pour salt into a wound with my comments.
When I read Spunky Monkey’s comments I get the impression that the author believes they are entitled to fly at a price they are comfortable with. From BA to Ryanair airlines are commercial enterprises driven to make a profit. Commercial aviation is neither the metro nor the postal service; my wages and job are not guaranteed by your taxes.
The air carrier must make a profit, and then hand much of that profit over to the government in the form of taxes and charges then the airline strives to continue in business; or they go out of business. Personally I have had two of my airline employers go out of business leaving me jobless, without health, retirement or other benefits as have tens of thousands of others in this industry over the last few decades.
I don’t like the way I am treated, or the options I am offered by the “Department of Revenue” and virtually every other arm of the State.
The same goes at the local fueling station, the market and many other places I end up needing to spend my money at. It is my option to shop at some of those places. I am not entitled to the housing, food, transportation and entertainment at the standard and price of my “liking”.
What has happened to the amount of your income that you pay in taxes over the last 20 years? And how does that compare what it costs to fly form one city to another over the same period? On this point Max Angle is exactly correct,
In many ways we have done this to ourselves in this industry. We have trained the customer to expect “cheap” seats. There are a lot of reasons for this but the bottom line is the customer loves being able to travel at less than the cost it takes to move her/him from one point to another.
Try that with your University education, the grocery store, or a taxi.
Some of us in the industry are beginning to make a modest profit now after years of eking by or massive losses. It looks like the “fees” are generating much of the profit not selling the seats. This is what you are experiencing.
“Thieves” and “scum” huh – really? Most of the people I know in this industry are great, as are most of the passengers. I am glad you have a job (really) that requires you to reposition all over Europe to catch up with your airplane. Perhaps you can talk the owners into dispatching the airplane at your beck and call, therefore allowing you to skip all this commercial travel nonsense. A little perspective maybe: go back to Max Angle’s #6 post and think about it for some historical perspective.
Last edited by Northbeach; 7th Aug 2010 at 20:10.