More proof the government doesn't care about TBTF!

by seasoned

Posted: 14 years ago 10 replies

OFF TOPIC

The latest deal taking an OK airline, and joining it to one that is BAD, as far as I am concerned, to end up with one that is, TBTF!

In United-Continental Deal, a Coast-to-Coast Behemoth - NYTimes.com

OLD "CHOICES" I had:

USAIR
American*
UNITED*
DELTA*
NWA
CONTINENTAL

* airlines I consider BAD due to primary hub(chicago for American and united), or careless negligence(delta)

NEW "choices" after THIS merger

American
DELTA
United

American was in talks with US, UNITED, and even DELTA. I'm going to have to find out what happened
DELTA merged with NWA
UNITED is merging with continental

OK, when are my choices going to vanish 100%!?!?!? They're CLOSE! I may have to go to another airport and MAYBE fly SWA sometimes

ANYWAY, this new airline may be the biggest on the planet! Is THAT too big to fail?

Steve

ThomM

14 years ago

My flying was limited to NY to Fl. so I always flew Eastern till they disappeared and the South West.
One time when I was flying to Albany from Orlando on SW the pilot refused to fly the plane because an idiot light was out on his control panel.
He came out of the cockpit and told us what was going on. He said he would not fly a plane that didn't check out 100%.
We where delayed about 3 hours before they got another plane for us, but I sure did have a lot of confidence in that pilot.

Thanks
2 replies

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KenThompson

14 years ago

Originally Posted by ThomM

He came out of the cockpit and told us what was going on. He said he would not fly a plane that didn't check out 100%.

probably a career-limiting move, unfortunately.

ANYWAY, this new airline may be the biggest on the planet! Is THAT too big to fail?

Now that's an interesting question considering the apparent trends with our good Uncle
saving companies that are too big to fail. I'm sure these guys never think about that
when they're putting these deals together. Right? It's almost, if not exactly, like it's a
'can't-lose' deal.

"Hey fellas, we'll milk the hell outta this cow, and when it's all about to implode, we'll
fly to DC and rob the piggy bank."

What's the name of that airline that British guy started a few years back? Not sure, but
he seemed to be able to make it profitable.

Thanks
1 reply

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seasoned

14 years ago

Originally Posted by KenThompson

probably a career-limiting move, unfortunately.

Now that's an interesting question considering the apparent trends with our good Uncle
saving companies that are too big to fail. I'm sure these guys never think about that
when they're putting these deals together. Right? It's almost, if not exactly, like it's a
'can't-lose' deal.

"Hey fellas, we'll milk the hell outta this cow, and when it's all about to implode, we'll
fly to DC and rob the piggy bank."

What's the name of that airline that British guy started a few years back? Not sure, but
he seemed to be able to make it profitable.

Do you mean virgin airlines?

I heard he has a philosophy that is the OPPOSITE of warren buffett. Warren likes to do things he knows. Branson likes to go into things headlong. He flaunts that by saying he's a VIRGIN at it!

Richard Branson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yeah, branson seems like a nice and smart guy. I LOVED that show where he had people do a lot of crazy things, and they had NO idea what they would get. One guy said basically "HELL NO", and HE ended up winning. Branson told him it was a TRICK and that if the guy went along, he would have lost.

Steve

Thanks

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seasoned

14 years ago

Originally Posted by ThomM

Oh, I had something similar happen! The plane started to take off! ABORTED!
The plane started to take off! ABORTED!
The plane started to take off! ABORTED!
The plane started to take off! ABORTED!

The pilot came on and said a light was going off that shouldn't, and he would call "tech support". OH BOY, I figured! WE'RE DEAD! I always figure the plane would be delayed endlessly, etc...

Well, The plane started to take off! YEAH, LIFTOFF!!!!!!! The problem? He had to hold a switch the whole time, and the light wouldn't go off.

It reminds me of "Star Trek, First contact". They are about to take off on the first EVER faster than life flight, and a WARNING light lights up. As I recall, cochran looks at it, hits it, it is still on, and he says "don't worry about it"!

Of course, I ALSO had a flight with some idiot claiming they gave him 1200 pounds too much fuel. He CLAIMED he couldn't take off. He later admitted he COULD have. They argued about that over 3 hours, and it took 20 minutes to remove the extra fuel. That was like maybe 8 extra passengers worth of fuel, on an aircraft that handled like 200 people. even the cost of shipping it was probably relatively negligible, but imagine all the rerouting, etc....

Steve

Thanks
1 reply

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KenThompson

14 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

Well.. as a maintenance technician in the aviation industry, both military and civilian, for
about 16 years, man I could tell you some stories. lol.

All of that stuff is nothing unusual, and it's pretty mild compared to some things I heard
about, or witnessed, or been a part of.

Not unusual at all about the fuel weight thing. Pilots have tables, for everything, that
tell them things like how much distance is needed to rotate (take off) per gross weight. Also,
there are tolerances with everything.

For example, this weight has this distance that is normal and totally safe. Then, for greater
weights it requires this distance that is a little out of the totally safe zone. Then, for even
greater weight it's totally your call, pal. lol. But if something happens - you're screwed, or
maybe dead. So that's what the pilot was dealing with in that situation.

Plus of course it pulls all kinds of other things into play such as personal liability, company
liability, his career, people's lives... all that stuff that I'm sure you understand.

Having worked in maintenance in a nuclear power plant, whoa dude - I could tell you really
good stories from that place. If something happens that affects power, and for example
they're losing $50,000 dollars Per Hour, ya think there's any pressure to fix it? lol.

Yes, I've seen lots of stuff that would scare the bejeezes outta people.

But don't worry, it's all under control.

Thanks
1 reply

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seasoned

14 years ago

Originally Posted by KenThompson

Having worked in maintenance in a nuclear power plant, whoa dude - I could tell you really
good stories from that place. If something happens that affects power, and for example
they're losing $50,000 dollars Per Hour, ya think there's any pressure to fix it? lol.

I have that kind of problem enough times. I once worked with a bank and they mght have lost several MILLION in an hour. Of course, the admin there didn't seem to care. I'm always in the center! I have to start late because someone else told me late, etc... And I have less time because I am waiting for resources from the other side. 8-(

That pilot was going a good distance, so the fuel shouldn't have mattered. and he admitted it. STIlLL, if it were so cut and dry, have the gas guy flip the switch! He told me those things go in REVERSE to! They aren't like car gas pumps. It was the 3 hours that bugged me. 20 minutes is just a nuisance, and likely not a problem for the average traveler.

As for nuclear power, three mile island, and chernobyl are enough for me. 8-(

Steve

Thanks
1 reply

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KenThompson

14 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

All right, Steve... let's talk about a joint venture, here.

You divert half that into my account, I'll cut you a percentage. You game?

Yeah... always impossible to know why stuff like that happens. I have not flown
since 96, I think. And hearing all the stories about post 9-11 crap, I have no desire
to fly. I'll only do it if I'm going overseas.

But my worst wait, in a plane, was only about an hour. And that was due to
traffic being horribly backed up for some unknown reason. But still, sitting there
for an hour almost made me insane. Almost.

So how can a bank "lose" millions in an hour? Accounting? I have no idea how that
happens. Are you allowed to talk about it? This intrigues the hell outta me.

'splain me, Steve...

Thanks
1 reply

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seasoned

14 years ago

Originally Posted by KenThompson

VERY EASY! There is a product called a CMO. At the time, they had to be traded by 3PM. Trade them at 3:01, and you lose $240,000USD EACH CMO! At the time, it was getting CLOSE!

Steve

Thanks

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TLTheLiberator 14 years ago

Is the policy regarding TBTF only for financial firms or for any industry???

I thought it applied to financial firms only.

TL
- Thanks
- 1 reply
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"It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. -- Mark Twain
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- seasoned 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by TLTheLiberator
  
  Is the policy regarding TBTF only for financial firms or for any industry???
  
  I thought it applied to financial firms only.
  
  TL
  
  If it did, then theyy STILL don't believe in preventing TBTF! The act of 1890 covered ********EVERYTHING********! Do you know what happens If airlines get too big? WELL, A LOT of people lost their jobs last friday! I will probably have a harder time getting flights. It has been getting harder ALL THIS YEAR! AND, they cost like 3 times what they did 10 years ago, and about twice what they did a few months ago. fewer flights, smaller flights, higher prices. And how would YOU feel if you couldn't fly on an airline for some reason?
  
  A couple weeks ago, I was delayed TWO HOURS because a TOTALLY different flight, in a different state, was hit by lightning. It had a staff that they wanted to be where I was going, so they were going to fly my plane. THEIR plane got hit in another state, THEY had to wait about 2 hours, so they got in about 2 hours late, and my plane was delayed. I have had flights delayed because a flight ATTENDANT wasn't there. As airlines get bigger, this will ONLY get worse. They aren't even really financiallly viable.
  
  And WHAT do you think this will do to boeing, etc...?
  
  steve
  
  Thanks
  
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More proof the government doesn't care about TBTF!

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