STOP State Aid to Airlines !!!

[atr42]

I live in Switzerland and there is my "flights-log" :

Crossair : Never !!
Swissair : 2 or 3 return trips.
Lufthansa : more than 10 return trips.
easyJet : more than 20 return trips.

Swiss government already paid 275 mio $ and is thinking to put 920 mio $ more. We are 7 mio people in Switzerland and that's mean I'd have to indirectly pay more than 175 $ to help the new swiss airline to survive !!!

Swissair difficulties started well before 11 september. I agree on a state aid to compensate the losses due to 11 september and following days but if some airlines are in big troubles today it's due to an old and completely inefficient "government management". Airlines were accustomed to monopolies and bi-lateral agreements. The direct result of this strategy is that now they are incompetent to deal with an "opened-market".

:mad:

[ 17 October 2001: Message edited by: atr42 ]

[76-er]

And it gets worse.

The EC just approved the initial 125M euro bailout of Sabena, with of course lots of millions more to follow for SN's successor, whatever its disguise.

[BLEKE]

quite right too :D

[warff]

It's a real joke
Why do company's like BA, LH and KLM even bother to listen to those Brussels jokers
Now they can start dumping their fares once again and p***s off the market
At the same time we in the well run companys will be asked another pay cut
Sabena and the EU ? get rid of it

[fly4fud]

atr42, you have been subsidizing the Swiss railway system (and the military...), and this for loooong years. It is called public transportation and a national Swiss airline fits this bill very well :)
It provides thousands of jobs, generates revenue thru taxes and welfare to the whole country. So for me (no, I'm not totally unbiased ;) ) these reasons are good enough, :cool:

[Stellina]

FLY4FUD, you've quite a good point there, and I wish people would relize things like that.
In case anyone wonders, NO.I dONT work fora "Stte" airline.
But there's things that simply cannot be left to sink.... :(

[atr42]

fly4fud & Stellina,
But there's things that simply cannot be left to sink....
Why ?
Let Swissair and Crossair fail if there is no other alternative. If there is really a market another airline will see the day.... Perhaps this time it will be a well-managed airline.
Swiss Railway (which is not a reference !!) and airlines are two different 'systems'. If you want to go from Zurich to Geneva by train you have only one possibility but if you want to go from Zurich to London you have several possibilities. That's what we name competition. And you (all cutomers) are the big winners of competition. It's completely unfair and anti-competitive to subsidize just some airlines and not the others.

Swiss government will give 2 bn swiss franc but there is no guarantee that the new airline will survive because the organisational and culture change will probably be the greatest challenge for the new airline. Crossair and Swissair had a completely different culture. More than one firm have collapsed due to a less important organisational change...

[ 18 October 2001: Message edited by: atr42 ]

[BavarianBoy]

Am afraid I totally agree with atr42 on this. All this strategic importance notion is bol**cs!! If Swissair or Sabena have failed, then where there is a market others will step in and create employment and run a more healthy business. After 75 odd years Sabena has only made profit in 2 years!!! UNBELIEVABLE!! This must not be allowed to continue, it is unfair competition and it is time to clear the decks!!
The romantic idea of national flag carriers is such a huge waste of resources and state funding should be stopped!! In Ireland Aer Lingus are lsoing 2.5 IR£ per day and yet their Govt wants to loan them money???? What a waste, it will never be repaid. If they go under others will fill the void. No other global businesses are protected like this... well, perhaps the odd Bank but let the Market Forces decide.

P.S. No I am not a Low fares employee.

Rgds BB