WHAT does it mean for air travel in 2012 that American Airlines (AA), the world’s fourth biggest carrier by passenger miles, has today sought refuge in America’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy code? My colleague on the Gulliver blog has neatly summed up the financial numbers that have crunched AA, the last of the America’s largest “legacy” carriers to file for Chapter 11. And critics of airline deregulation will say AA’s troubles are the inevitable consequence of a “flight to the bottom” sparked by the 1978 federal act that unleashed market forces on the hitherto closely regulated industry.
Cassandra has always been a supporter of deregulation, but I have to admit that flying in America is a bit like being on Greyhound bus—though often with less service. The question is whether low fares must always equal low-quality service with grumpy, underpaid cabin staff. Looking at Europe’s budget airlines, notably Ryanair and EasyJet, I suspect the answer is yes.
On the other hand, Cassandra lives in hope. Almost all airlines in the Middle and Far East boast wonderful service (think of Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines) of a kind that their American competitors abandoned years ago. Could they transfer that service culture to low-cost carriers? We shall soon find out: in 2012 Singapore Airlines, Thai and Japan’s ANA will all launch budget-airline subsidiaries. As long as the cabin attendants smile and are as efficient as on their parent airlines, Cassandra will be happy to pay for his wine.
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