Years ago I worked on a transaction to purchase a national flag carrier. We secured an option to buy the largest block of stock from a friends ex brother in law and raised the money. We raised the money because of something called a smart card. Whats a smart card? A smart card is the best fly anywhere pass, anytime, anywhere for ZERO. We were planning to give them to our financiers. They signed up. The appeal of flying to Paris on the Concorde with their wife or girlfriend for FREE sold the deal. As I said this was a long time ago.
Do you know why TWA sold itself to Carl Icahn? It wasn’t the money, or the shareholders, or anything else but the fact that the members of the board of directors could fly FREE for their natural lives. I think it also included immediate family. Such is the airline business.
For those of us who don’t fly private. Its not fun anymore. Why would anyone go into a business with high fixed costs, no pricing power remains to be seen. Seems you should go into the oil business as thats your largest variable cost and over time you could equal out your profits, as you can only make big money from one or the other and never at the same time.
But this has changed. The airlines are all making money, more money then they ever have before. The service sucks, the passengers suck, the planes aren’t clean, the food sucks, the staff is stressed. And we pay more for less.
So here is new configured proposed plane seating layout, solely for the benefit of the profit of its manufacturer and its customers, the airlines.
Funny, as those making the decisions about this type of stuff never experience what its like to be an economy customer of theirs. Their new version of hell should be to be sentenced to this seating plan in perpetuity.
Either don’t fly or don’t fly commercial.
Flying private should be everyones goal.