3 ms·

Perhaps because airlines are some of the worst performing businesses in the Western world.

by iwwr 15y ago

arkitaip 15y ago
Citation?
- justincormack 15y ago
  Pretty widely discussed that as a business it has never broken even as a whole. Eg http://www.johnkay.com/2005/09/27/airlines-and-the-canine-features-of-unprofitable-industries http://www.johnkay.com/2005/09/27/airlines-and-the-canine-fe...
  - willyt 15y ago
    Is that true for other forms of transport too? Probably true for trains. Cars as well? all the road construction and maintenance costs are eaten by the taxpayer.
    - justincormack 15y ago
      I would be fairly sure that the canal business (eg in the UK, not later ones like Panama) was generally unprofitable as a general transport business, being mostly replaced by railways before paying back its build costs. The railways are less clear, the build costs were huge, and written off many times by bankruptcy, but the impression you get from say http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1947/dec/30/transport.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1947/dec/30/transport.uk was that in the first half of the 20th century in the UK they were competing well against road transport, efficient and profitable ("they were conveying more passengers than the whole of the United States railroads put together"). Other countries may vary though. The car business does not have a very good long term profitability record, I am sure if you lump in the cost of road construction you will probably end up at a loss, although that is not exactly fair as that is not the way the market was structured.
- geuis 15y ago
  http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_bankruptcies_in_the_United_States http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_bankruptcies_in_the_U... http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0191260784900207 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/01912607849... http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2010/06/25/us-airlines-an-utter-failure-more-bankruptcies-17-fare-increase-expected--hudson-securities/page1 http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2010/06/25/us-airlines...
- goatforce5 15y ago
  Branson has a famous quote about this: "What's the best way to become a millionaire? Start off as a billionaire and launch an airline." http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-calder-the-man-who-pays-his-way-415165.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-cald...

Perhaps because airlines are some of the worst performing businesses in the Western world.

by iwwr 15y ago

Perhaps because airlines are some of the worst performing businesses in the Western world.

arkitaip 15y ago

Citation?

justincormack 15y ago
Pretty widely discussed that as a business it has never broken even as a whole. Eg http://www.johnkay.com/2005/09/27/airlines-and-the-canine-features-of-unprofitable-industries http://www.johnkay.com/2005/09/27/airlines-and-the-canine-fe...
- willyt 15y ago
  Is that true for other forms of transport too? Probably true for trains. Cars as well? all the road construction and maintenance costs are eaten by the taxpayer.
  - justincormack 15y ago
    I would be fairly sure that the canal business (eg in the UK, not later ones like Panama) was generally unprofitable as a general transport business, being mostly replaced by railways before paying back its build costs. The railways are less clear, the build costs were huge, and written off many times by bankruptcy, but the impression you get from say http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1947/dec/30/transport.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1947/dec/30/transport.uk was that in the first half of the 20th century in the UK they were competing well against road transport, efficient and profitable ("they were conveying more passengers than the whole of the United States railroads put together"). Other countries may vary though. The car business does not have a very good long term profitability record, I am sure if you lump in the cost of road construction you will probably end up at a loss, although that is not exactly fair as that is not the way the market was structured.
geuis 15y ago
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_bankruptcies_in_the_United_States http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_bankruptcies_in_the_U... http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0191260784900207 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/01912607849... http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2010/06/25/us-airlines-an-utter-failure-more-bankruptcies-17-fare-increase-expected--hudson-securities/page1 http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2010/06/25/us-airlines...
goatforce5 15y ago
Branson has a famous quote about this: "What's the best way to become a millionaire? Start off as a billionaire and launch an airline." http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-calder-the-man-who-pays-his-way-415165.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-cald...