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In addition to all the other issues that people have brought up, the most important thing to remember is that the airline business is extremely cyclical. They
by tynpeddler 7y ago
In addition to all the other issues that people have brought up, the most important thing to remember is that the airline business is extremely cyclical. They know that there are always bad times around the bend. Their total lack of preparation is what's so galling. The management at these companies is simply unfit when they so routinely ignore the history of their own industry.
- AnimalMuppet 7y agoI seem to recall that total profits for the (US) airline industry from 1960 to 2010 was $0 (dates may be incorrect, but the general timeframes are correct). It's all just bankruptcy, merger, restructuring, and repeat.
- nieve 7y agoYou should always be suspicious of claims by or about a company that they made no profit when they were able to throw billions at propping up their stock price. If it's true it's financial malpractice, but it's no more believable than the shenanigans of highly profitable megacorporations that somehow end up paying no federal taxes.
- AnimalMuppet 7y agoWhat I said was that total profits for 50 or 60 years, for all airline companies put together, were $0. But any one company, for a period of several years, certainly could be doing well enough to reasonably buy back stock. It doesn't have to be financial malpractice. (It may be, but my statement doesn't mean that it is.)