Blog Archives
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Business Telephony 101
- Thursday November 30, 2006Wife Gail and I are living in the midst of total chaos. We decided to move from Huntsville, AL, to Asheville, NC, to be closer to her parents. We figured this would be a leisurely process of some months. The real estate lady said it typically takes about three months to sell a house in Huntsville; we put ours on the market in early November. It sold in five days flat. The buyer gave us until the end of November to vacate the premises. Our leisurely move became a frenetic and total panic. Our mover is an old customer with whom we have dealt for more than fifteen years. They have done a great job for us. The truck is packed and ready to go. No problem. Well, almost no problem. Yesterday our “Moving Coordinator†called. She... -
Black Monday in Alabama
- Tuesday November 21, 2006Yesterday — Monday — was a bad day in Huntsville, AL, where I live. You probably read about it. A school bus with about 45 teen students aboard plunged off of the interstate and fell 30 feet nose first. To date, there are three fatalities, multiple injuries, and a stunned community. This bus — like most school buses — had no seatbelts. In fact, this accident may be the straw that finally ends that disgraceful practice. In the meantime, you should hear the silly reasons cited as to why school buses don’t have/need seat belts. I thought we settled most of the pros and cons of seatbelts back in the 1950s, but, when it comes to the school buses that carry our children, the arguments are alive and well 50... -
Frustration
- Monday November 13, 2006Umpty-ump years ago, several men pooled resources and set out to revive the Helio Courier aircraft. No naive, starry-eyed business neophytes, these folks had vast experience in aircraft sales, finance, insurance, and other fields. They got one airplane built, and even had it sold. They desperately needed certification so they could deliver said aircraft and collect the money. An FAA test pilot flew the airplane and said they had to make only one little fix before he could approve certification. They leaped to the airplane with tools in hand, but the test pilot headed for his car. He had to leave, said he, because it would be the end of his working day when he got home. No problem, though—they could set up another appointment to have... -
First Officer School
- Tuesday November 7, 2006An airline pilot pointed out an ad in a major aviation publication. It worries me. A flight training school advertises a "First Officer Program" that includes "Over 250 hours of actual FAR Part 121 turboprop passenger airline First Officer experience." Now, I could be wrong, but that sounds to me like flying the line with real, paying pax in the back. That raises a few questions, at least in my mind. Doesn’t that mean that the student would be paying to fly for an airline? Will these pilots really be qualified to fly as first officers, or are they just learning? Is this a sign of things to come? If this is a trend, how far will it go? As mentioned herein before, I have always believed that those years of first-officer experience... -
Déjà Vu All Over Again
- Tuesday October 31, 2006The more things change, and all that… According to USA Today today, on Friday United raised fares by six dollars. Imagine that, six whole dollars. American, Continental, Delta, and Northwest quickly followed suit with identical fare increases. That was on Friday. On Saturday, United lowered fares right back down, reportedly because not all airlines raised theirs. On Sunday, Continental, Delta, and Northwest also chickened out. Danged if I can figure it. I am an airline customer myself. Typically, I shop for the best—cheapest—fares. But I have never—repeat, never—haggled over six dollars. If the airline I prefer charged me six dollars more, I wouldn’t change to save that six dollars. Does... -
Earth Shaking News
- Tuesday October 24, 2006Two newspaper items caught my attention in the last week: First, USA Today, October 23, breathlessly reported on the front page with big headlines "Fares climb 15% for holiday." Well, duh. Breaths there a reader who doesn’t know that airfares will rise for holiday travel? Particularly if you don’t get your ticket until a month before the holiday? Is this front-page news? Hey, if pax take advantage of low prices when demand is low, why is it a surprise that airlines raise prices when demand is high? Second, The Wall Street Journal today reported on an airfare price war in the Hawaiian Islands. Now this is more interesting. Mesa moved into the inter-island market (with a new subsidiary called "go!") and prices are down to $39... -
The Big Easy
- Tuesday October 17, 2006I write this from the National Airports Conference in New Orleans. I have learned more today than I can digest, so will not be imparting any great words of wisdom this week. This week, I will just impart a few observations… First, this was my first trip to The Big Easy since Katrina changed the whole world down here. Everything I’d heard about the devastation is true. As I drove into the city from Slidell, LA, it seemed at first that it wasn’t all that bad. They must, I decided, have rebuilt the city already—or maybe it never was as bad as I heard. Then several facts hit all at once. In the first place, the blocks of apartment buildings, offices, homes, and the neighborhoods were devoid of people. Then I... -
Media Travel Tips
- Tuesday October 10, 2006Hey, folks, aviation is interesting again—at least to the media. The October 16 issue of Fortune is typical. The Business Life section features "Secrets to Smarter Travel," including "300-day-a-year traveler who spills all his tricks," and "Road Warriors: The husband and wife edition," plus a comparison of business class seats and what to do during layovers in 15 exotic spots around the world. The implication is that if you but read all of this you will breeze through airline travel smiling like the people in airline ads. As the song says, tain’t necessarily so. Truth is, my airline travel has very little in common with these folks. That 300-day-a-year fellow seems to spend most of his time going to exciting places on a... -
Grand Larceny
- Monday October 2, 2006In May 1999, my Airport Business column was written about renting a car in Boston, Taxachusetts. The fees and taxes added 49.55%—repeat, 49.55%—to the price of the rental car, and I was mad about it. Earlier this year, I included that column in my book, "Ground Clutter, The Book," and it made me mad all over again. Today, I reserved a rental car at Boston Logan Airport. Now I’m really mad. Today, folks, the taxes/fees added 57.7% to the price of the rental car. 57.7%. That is highway robbery. They should be ashamed. Hell, King George himself would have been ashamed. In 1999 and again today, $10 of that was for a "Convention Center Charge." They are charging me to pay for their convention center. (In 1999 the... -
Here To Help Us
- Tuesday September 26, 2006According to The Wall Street Journal, health care costs for employers are rising twice as fast as wages/inflation. The average family premium is more than $11,000. I don't know abut you, but I can remember working for a lot less pay than that. People wonder why health care costs go up, and I've got a theory. Unlike most goods and services we buy, health care suppliers are not even close to operating in a free market. You reckon that could have anything to do with it? The very supply of physicians is greatly influenced by the guvmint providing the money to create interns or resident physicians. Even worse, in most places you cannot build a hospital — or even a major new piece of equipment for a current hospital...
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