Not-so Friendly Skies

The Events of Sept 11 rocked the Nation at its very foundation. Three jet aircraft set off a tidal wave who's ripple affected every sector of life in America. The economy was crippled, and consumer confidence took years to recover. One of the industries hardest hit was, not surprisingly, the airlines industry. Americans responded to the "need" of the airline industry and then-President Bush signed the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (Public. Law 107–42). This bill effectively bailed out the entire air travel industry, and was funded by the US taxpayers.

Its important to note that the airlines lost millions of dollars due to mandatory ground stops and were powerless to do anything about that. Not to mention the fact that many were too scared to fly. The bill also provided the airlines compensation for grounded flight and lost revenue. The Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act is a great example of Americans supporting America.

Six years later, rising fuel prices "forced" many major air travel providers to begin charging a surcharge for checked luggage. The rationale behind this was that the additional weight of the baggage caused the aircraft to burn more fuel, and the price of fuel was affecting the profit margins of the airlines.

Not to quietly, the American air traveler accepted this new practice and understood that business much make money -- for the greater good.

In 2008 the USA was again under attack, not by a violent foe, but by a recession the likes of which most American's have never seen. Through no fault of Main Street America citizens were robbed of their homes, jobs, pensions, and dignity. The culprits wore business suits and not a ski mask, but teh results were the same. In our time of need, how does the Airline Industry repay its once generous lenders? By increasing fees, cutting flights, eliminating meals and other services.

Gas prices are stable again, yet baggage fees are still being charged... why? In fact now there is an inverse corrilation with the baggage fees: fuel prices are down, yet the price that the airlines charge for checked luggage is going up? In additional to this sckewed accounting, Spirit Airlines has reported that it will now charge as much as $45 for carry-on luggage. This is ridiculous,and orders on criminal.

If we, The People, treated the airlines the way they treated us, there would be no more airlines.

RIM is rough around the edges

Research In Motion (RIM.TO) (RIMM.O) shares fell 6 percent on Thursday after the company posted quarterly results that magnified market jitters about rivals stealing market share from the BlackBerry smartphone.
RIM reported quarterly profit, revenue, and phone shipments that were below expectations after markets closed on Wednesday, but it also posted forecast-beating gross margins and subscriber growth.

The company, which has promised that analysts will be "blown away" by product launches it has planned for the year ahead, said a one-time customer inventory adjustment hurt both sales and shipments in its fourth quarter.

But questions linger about the health of RIM's North American operations and its high-profit corporate customer base. Corporate demand sagged during the recession and executives are now slower to replace phones with new models that boast extra features.

"What I see going on here is that RIM is encountering an increasingly competitive landscape in the U.S. and that's to be expected with Android starting to gain traction and the iPhone doing well," said Needham & Co analyst Charles Wolf in an interview.