Today, in my inbox, I received a letter from 12 Airline CEOs. No, it wasn’t for me personally, but it was sent out from the frequent flyer program email systems that each of those airlines have. It urges consumers to complain to congress about the rising fuel prices.
The cost of jet fuel is nearly twice of what it was a year ago. It’s no doubt that it is an important issue. It’s interesting to note the 12 airline CEOs included in that list. They are from the following airlines: AirTran Airways, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Northwest Airlines, United Air Lines, US Airways, Southwest Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Alaska Airlines. That covers just about all of America’s top airlines.
So, they claim that speculators buy large amounts of oil and sell it to each other. Then, the price goes up with each trade and consumers are the ones that have to pay.
The letter links to a site with a pre-written letter for you to send to your local state representative and state senators.
I’m surprised it came. Never did I think that they would send a joint letter together. The letter is expected to reach millions of frequent flyer members. If we were to have a few more days like today, where the price of fuel decreased a number of dollars, then I think they’re set. Obviously, that won’t be happening. Instead, Airlines have the trouble of spending 40% or more of their costs on fuel. I hope congress does something during Congress vs. Oil, Round two. The one dollar rise in oil adds a $465 million dollar, all together, price to the airlines’ bills. The airlines hope that congress can make trading commodities fairer. We’ll have to see how this plays out.
4 Comments
July 11, 2008 at 9:02 pm
The leaders of the “major” airlines simply have had no idea how to ever make money in a deregulated environment. Finger pointing is the last defense of the incompetent. We can only expect things to worsen for all of us dependent upon air carriers. read more at http://www.ThePHoenixPrinciple.com
August 2, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Brilliant!
October 28, 2008 at 12:25 am
[...] lobbying. I’m sure nearly all of the airlines are lobbying one way or another. Remember that letter that 12 airlines sent out to nearly all of their frequent flier members? Well, I’m sure all [...]
January 6, 2009 at 12:07 am
[...] other, and it’s unlikely that we’d ever see that much cooperation – unless one counts the letter that most major airlines signed this year; blaming fuel speculators for the high price of [...]