Steven Pearlstein lampoons McKinsey & Co’s airline consulting practice — and United and Delta for hiring them at $1 million per month. His Washington Post piece uses United’s 278-page January creditors committee presentation as a case in point.
About Gary Leff
Less Traffic, Higher Fares
Earlier this month, I said that military action against Iraq would not necessarily lower air fares — at least not immediately. Now Reuters is reporting on fare increases for international premium class travel. This isn’t surprising, really. Anyone flying internationally now is probably doing so because they really need to and so are among the least price-sensitive consumers. Lower air traffic eventually translates into lower fares, but in the short-term, just like after 9/11, some fares may actually go up.
Bombs Fly, You Don’t
An update on international flight cancellations in light of the current unpleasantness.
The socio-political implications of a Douglas DC-3
A Cuban plane was hijacked and diverted to Florida late Wednesday night. There’s nothing too surprising about that, given current information. I wouldn’t want to live in Cuba either. But for anyone who ever questions just how backward Cuba is, note this one salient point about the story — the plane was a DC-3, still in regular operation in Cuba, sixty-seven years after it was first introduced.
USAirways to Test Selling Food Onboard
USAirways begins its two-week test tomorrow on flights between Pittsburgh and Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City, Nashville, and New Orleans. Here’s the press release.
What Does TSA Stand For?
The TSA stands for Taxpayer Soaking Agency. And I thought it mean (T)housands (S)tanding (A)round or (T)aking (S)cissors (A)way.
Why Rail Transit Systems Fail
Rail transit only makes sense in the largest cities, with concentrated downtown districts. Most rail transit is built to serve the downtown business districts in cities. But the days when downtowns functioned as the primary centers of employment are long gone. Since about 1955, when people and office equipment began taking up more space, most new jobs have been created in industrial parks and small office parks–areas outside of downtown. Now, less than 10 percent of the nation’s employment in metropolitan areas is located in the old central business districts. So for more than 90 percent of commuters, rail transit isn’t an option. Yet this fact is not an argument for extending rail transit into the suburbs. Employment outside of downtown areas is spread too thin to support rail transit. And any system serving the…
A Weighty Decision to Committ a Very Large Crime, or Casino Worker Crapps Out
The Associated Press reports that a casino worker named Crapps, whose girth prevented him from fitting into a standard company-issued pocketless uniform, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from slot machines by stuffing the money into his sweatpants.
Whether you believe in such things or not, this is just too good…
Jewish Miracle Fish Believed To Warn Of Apocaplyse An obscure Jewish sect in New York has been gripped in awe by what it believes to be a mystical visitation by a 20lb carp that was heard shouting in Hebrew, in what many Jews worldwide are hailing as a modern miracle. Many of the 7,000-member Skver sect of Hasidim in New Square, 30 miles north of Manhattan, believe God has revealed himself in fish form. According to two fish-cutters at the New Square Fish Market, the carp was about to be slaughtered and made into gefilte fish for Sabbath dinner when it suddenly began shouting apocalyptic warnings in Hebrew. Read the whole thing. My favorite part? Stand-up comedians have already incorporated the carp into their comedy routines at weddings. One gefilte company has considered changing it’s…
Really, really big bubbles
And you thought that 20 million frequent flyer miles were impressive? Try 1 million gum wrappers in a chain.
