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Airlines will soon have to pay you back if they cancel or delay your flight (www.theverge.com)

submitted 2 months ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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[-] RedditWanderer@lemmy.world 37 points 2 months ago

“Airlines should compete with one another to secure passengers’ business—not to see who can charge the most in surprise fees,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.

That makes sense, until you see airlines pulling out huge profits then using our subsidies to operate while whining air travel is not a good business

[-] ImFresh3x@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Which airline is making huge profit? I can’t find even one that isn’t breaking even +- 1 or 2 percent.

AA is the biggest, but makes no profit. Delta makes a small profit compared to their revenue.

[-] spujb@lemmy.cafe 1 points 2 months ago

either clever misinformation or really bad misunderstanding here. “profit compared to revenue” is not a useful metric of profitability and is quite misleading.

the costs associated with running an airline are incredibly high, mostly because of jet fuel. so of course, airlines are going to be the industry with some of the smallest profit margins.

and airlines are currently in a recovery period from covid, so their profits are lower than pre-pandemic numbers.

none of this excuses the cost cutting, stock buybacks, and other exploitative behaviors of airlines. 1-2% of billions of dollars is still a fuck ton of money.

[-] Roccobot@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago

In the USA* (in civil countries it has been that way for decades)

[-] flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 months ago

I was about to say

[-] arin@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Ah the backwater country

[-] xhieron@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago

Thanks, President Biden!

[-] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

I'm sure they'll take this lying down.

[-] thesporkeffect@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Then compensate for that when it happens instead of vigorously defending the status quo :)

[-] paraphrand@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

It’s unlikely that this will set up perverse incentives to sacrifice safety for the bottom line, right?

[-] exanime@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

They already do that... so nothing is lost

[-] thesporkeffect@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

You mean like Boeing has been doing for the past 20 years?

[-] gaael@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

But don't worry, they are stil allowed to make your life and the life of coming generation more and more difficult #climatechange without having to do anything about it (except pretend r&d about "biofuels" and "electric planes" to look cool).

Edit: fixed typo and clarified

[-] TequilaMockingbird@kbin.social 2 points 2 months ago

Every recent flight delay I've experienced was due to mechanical issues or flight crew availability (scheduled crew was delayed on another flight, available crews had or would exceed mandatory hours limit, etc). As frustrating as these are, I'm not sure I want the decision-makers thinking "Gee, this delay will cost us thousands of dollars. Fuck it, send the flight!". These mechanical checks and crew hour limits are there for a reason. And let's be honest, regulations are only as good as the enforcement. This may not necessarily be a good change for consumers.

[-] piecat@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

If they could get away with bypassing those inspections or regulations, they already would.

I want the decision makers thinking "Gee, this pattern of delays will cost us more than if we hired more workers"

[-] spujb@lemmy.cafe 1 points 2 months ago

yes. maintaining or tightening safety standards and their associated penalties in conjunction with penalizing delays is probably the best way to do this.

as a non-expert, i am hoping that the investigations into recent safety failures go somewhere positive so that the fears this comment section are bringing up are assuaged. cuz we shouldn’t as citizens be forced to choose between basic consumer rights and safety.

[-] TequilaMockingbird@kbin.social 1 points 2 months ago

Yea, you're probably right. I guess I was overestimating the Risk-Reward calculation they go through. Like, if it doesn't cost much to be compliant (schedule already accounts for inspections, crews are already on salary) then they would be less willing to risk regulatory consequences. But as soon as it starts to cost them more to do so, compliance becomes "nice to have" and not a standard. Recent incidents suggest they have already been skipping steps, so I concede.

this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2024

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