Friday, September 19, 2008

Consumer alert - Alitalia Airlines

Please confirm with your travel agent if you have a ticket issued to travel on Alitalia Airlines

Alitalia (Italy's national airline)European media are reporting this afternoon that Alitalia -- the Italian national airline that has struggled financially for years -- now faces an effective deadline of Monday, Sept. 22, to come up with additional financing to stay afloat. However, the prospects appear grim, as yesterday the last group of Italian investors interested in the carrier withdrew their bid in the face of withering opposition from Alitalia's unions.

Thank you ~

Monday, September 8, 2008

Airline Industry Deregulation

I want to share this article from USA Today, by Bill McGee. Let me know any thoughts?

With industry in crisis, experts question deregulation
Thirty years after the landmark Airline Deregulation Act went into effect, lawmakers and industry experts are no longer unanimous that deregulation was a boon for U.S. fliers. Bankruptcies, higher prices and widespread service cuts have helped spark talk of re-regulating the airline industry. "Three decades of deregulation have demonstrated that airlines have special characteristics incompatible with a completely unregulated environment," says Robert Crandall, former CEO of American Airlines. "To put things bluntly, experience has established that market forces alone cannot and will not produce a satisfactory airline industry, which clearly needs some help to solve its pricing, cost, and operating problems." USA TODAY (9/2)