4 ms·

Are you planning to boycott the airlines or the airports? This waste was caused by airport policies; FTA: >"The news has prompted the Belgian federal governmen

by nickff 5y ago

Are you planning to boycott the airlines or the airports? This waste was caused by airport policies; FTA: >"The news has prompted the Belgian federal government to write to the European Commission, urging it to rethink the rules on securing slots. Before the pandemic hit, the rule was that airlines must operate flights in at least 80% of their scheduled take-off and landing slots, or they risked losing them. This was revised down to 50% after coronavirus broke out, but this still remains much higher than the actual number of flights needed to meet passenger demand."

mh- 5y ago
Based on your quote, it seems like EC policies, not airport policies, no?
AdamJacobMuller 5y ago
> airlines or the airports If only they were the only choice! I would put the fault firmly in the hands of the bureaucrats or the politicians in the EU. This rule made sense pre-pandemic but it should have been adjusted for the current environment to something more like a right-of-first-refusal.
- skohan 5y ago
  It's a bit of a hard problem isn't it? Flights and airport capacity have to be planned very far in advance and there are a limited number of slots - if you have airlines taking capacity and not using it, there's a huge opportunity cost for actual travelers who have to pay more, or can't get somewhere, because a necessary flight has been pushed out by an unnecessary one? It seems to me these kind of rules have a place, but should be expanded to take slots away from airlines which operate lots of mostly empty flights, not just cancellations. Of course I do think exceptions should be made for extraordinary circumstances like a pandemic.
  - landemva 5y ago
    Walt Disney owns their amusement parks and seems to do okay balancing capital costs and visitor demand. Why should anyone think governments have a special ability to own and operate airports?

by nickff 5y ago

mh- 5y ago

Based on your quote, it seems like EC policies, not airport policies, no?

AdamJacobMuller 5y ago

> airlines or the airports If only they were the only choice! I would put the fault firmly in the hands of the bureaucrats or the politicians in the EU. This rule made sense pre-pandemic but it should have been adjusted for the current environment to something more like a right-of-first-refusal.

skohan 5y ago
It's a bit of a hard problem isn't it? Flights and airport capacity have to be planned very far in advance and there are a limited number of slots - if you have airlines taking capacity and not using it, there's a huge opportunity cost for actual travelers who have to pay more, or can't get somewhere, because a necessary flight has been pushed out by an unnecessary one? It seems to me these kind of rules have a place, but should be expanded to take slots away from airlines which operate lots of mostly empty flights, not just cancellations. Of course I do think exceptions should be made for extraordinary circumstances like a pandemic.
- landemva 5y ago
  Walt Disney owns their amusement parks and seems to do okay balancing capital costs and visitor demand. Why should anyone think governments have a special ability to own and operate airports?