http://picasaweb.google.com/laura.kelly.robinson/Snow#

Only that the airlines are regulated by the FAA. Kind of hard to antagonize the people with their foot on your oxygen hose. The public has a short memory (kind of explains politics). This month it is US Air getting hammered, so American, Southwest and the others pick-up a few passengers from the bad publicity. Next month it will be somebody else and US Air gets those passengers back.

Any idea why the Airlines aren’t offering this extremely effective defense?

There’s no such thing as bad press, as long as they spell your name right.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong wrong… Chase made statements and promises, and in reliance on those statements and promises, third parties undertook activities that they were not previously obligated to perform. Further, you can argue that Chase benefited from those activities. While I’m sure they had a lot of fine print associated with their contest rules, there is still an argument to be made that Chase is liable on a contract or related legal theory.

Thanks for shedding some light on this. I think the government always finds a scapegoat for it’s fuck ups. It’s always the profit seeking ventures that get the blame.

Now, let us all face toward Washington, bend down, nose to the ground, and humbly repeat the chant, “All hail Mighty Leaders of Democracy!”

Everybody keeps making the airline out to be the bad guy here, when it is far from the truth. The last thing an airline wants is a plane sitting on the taxiway for an extended period of time. Think of it from the airline’s view. Every moment that plane sits there it costs the airline money. The aircrew’s pay, crew rest hours, the fuel being burned by the engines, the hours that the aircraft systems are running (maintance inspections and component replacement are based on operating times). If a plane is running too late, the airline has to put another aircraft in service to take the runs that the delayed aircraft was supposed to do. All of this before the negative publicity of the delayed plane’s passenger’s complaints.

As far as the delays built into the flight times is concerned, think about this. Our ATC system is still based on 1970′s technology. The Airport Improvement Program was started in the 80′s to replace the Air Traffic Control system in the 90′s. It was funded by a tax on fuel and passenger tickets. Everything was going fine until in 1995 Clinton took the funds out of the AIP’s account and put them into the general fund to make the deficit look better. Now everytime the FAA tries to use those funds for their intended purpose, some Democrat Congresscritter screams about how the Federal Government won’t use public funds to improve the airlines so the rich can have it easy. As a result ATC has to still use paper routing slips to keep track of the planes which can result in delays.

For those who think that the airlines should schedule fewer flights, it isn’t up to the airlines. The same government entity that runs the airport has the final say so on that. Airlines are awarded gates at airports based on the whims of the local politicians. The number of flights per day is a contractual obligation between the airlines and the local government running the airport. Number of flights = $$$ for the local government. Landing fees, ticket fees, taxes on food and drink sold at the airport, fuel taxes, payroll taxes on people employeed at the airport, parking taxes, hotel taxes, taxi taxes, it all adds up.

What I find funny is the causes of these delays. ATC has a backlog due to out of date equipment, so they place planes in a holding pattern. after so many planes are in that pattern, they start asking the airports to start holding patterns of their own. after thes patterns are full, the airports start delaying takeoffs. This starts planes to be held on the taxiways. In the mean time the planes that are landing have to have access to gates to unload their passengers, so the planes that just loaded at the gate have to move to the ramps. The airlines have no control over this at all, yet when something happens it is their fault. Bullshit!

Because, of course, Chase is a private organization that receives no State privileges like bailouts, regulatory exemption, licensing or tax breaks.

Mmm hmm.

Can we end the charade already and call things by their true name?

The State bestows favors on its preferred vassals and strangles the remainder into submission.

The Bill of Rights is a dead letter. Time to move on.

“Sorry you were stuck on the plane for 14 hours, but you’ll be happy to know that we took nearly 30 grand from the airline to help pay the TSA to molest you on your behalf.”

*mayor, governor, congressman, gang leader, teacher, TMZ, Limbaugh, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX,
(shit, I’m tired of typing)

It is also unfathomable that they are allowed to ‘refuse’. It is clear that there really is no checks and balances, no part of this government that is actually dedicated to the justice for all that is the fundamental basis for our illusion of greatness as a nation.