[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Air France Can't Beat 'Em, So it Joins 'Em

Say you're a contestant on The Amazing Race and you need to get from Paris to Lyon, France. You could spend two hours dealing with a flight and all the headaches that go with it, or you could hop a hassle-free train and glide into central Paris nearly as quickly. Which is the better bet?

Unless you're really dumb, you'd take the train. And Air France knows it. After years of losing market share to sexy, speedy trains in the domestic market, the airline is rumored to be considering a joint venture to operate its own high speed trains within France and to destinations in Belgium and the UK.

Air France and a company called Veolia Transport are said to be interested in leasing or purchasing a new generation of train known as the AGV. It can carry 900 passengers at speeds of up to 224 mph, which is a big jump over France's current top-speed rail rider, the 186 mph TVG. Traveling between Paris and Amsterdam on an AGV would take just one and a half hours, which is impressive when you consider that a flight between the two cities takes an hour and 15 minutes, without accounting for time spent at the airport.

To hear Air France tell it, they don't really have a choice but to collaborate with the enemy. "Limiting our activity to aircraft operations and ignoring market trends constitutes a risk," Air France CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta said at a shareholder meeting in July. "We have reached the logical conclusion that we need to seriously examine the possibility for Air France to operate trains under the Air France brand to several destinations in partnership with a rail service provider."

He's not kidding. The trains are kicking Air France's ass on many domestic routes -- the airline's market share has dropped to 10-percent between Paris and Lyon, and 30-percent Paris to Bordeaux. Things are so bleak that the airline has suspended or discontinued service on several routes, including Paris to Brussels.
...

[americandream]

All they're doing is maintaining the infrastructure to keep workers, consumers, bank, derivatives experts, oil oligarchs, and all the other functionaries in a dysfunctional system rolling along at speed. The underlying problem remains...wasteful use in an instant of resources that took this planet many epochs to generate.

[mos6507]

"operate trains under the Air France brand"

That sounds pretty stupid. Like "Amtrak Airlines". I mean, can't they come up with a new subsidiary name?

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '"')operate trains under the Air France brand"

That sounds pretty stupid. Like "Amtrak Airlines". I mean, can't they come up with a new subsidiary name?

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '"')operate trains under the Air France brand"

That sounds pretty stupid. Like "Amtrak Airlines". I mean, can't they come up with a new subsidiary name?

[pogoliamo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'A')ll they're doing is maintaining the infrastructure to keep workers, consumers, bank, derivatives experts, oil oligarchs, and all the other functionaries in a dysfunctional system rolling along at speed. The underlying problem remains...wasteful use in an instant of resources that took this planet many epochs to generate.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pogoliamo', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'A')ll they're doing is maintaining the infrastructure to keep workers, consumers, bank, derivatives experts, oil oligarchs, and all the other functionaries in a dysfunctional system rolling along at speed. The underlying problem remains...wasteful use in an instant of resources that took this planet many epochs to generate.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '
')Tell me, exactly, how hoisting a 165,000-lb aircraft to 36,000 feet for a brief half hour, only to have it land it in another city a mere 200 miles away is the most efficient form of travel between such points?

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '
')Tell me, exactly, how hoisting a 165,000-lb aircraft to 36,000 feet for a brief half hour, only to have it land it in another city a mere 200 miles away is the most efficient form of travel between such points?

[pogoliamo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', 'T')ell me, exactly, how hoisting a 165,000-lb aircraft to 36,000 feet for a brief half hour, only to have it land it in another city a mere 200 miles away is the most efficient form of travel between such points?

[Snowrunner]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pogoliamo', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', 'T')ell me, exactly, how hoisting a 165,000-lb aircraft to 36,000 feet for a brief half hour, only to have it land it in another city a mere 200 miles away is the most efficient form of travel between such points?

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Snowrunner', '
')I wouldn't mind if people would stop always being so much in a hurry.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pogoliamo', 'P')lus, last time I tried to use it the workers decided the nice weather is perfect for a strike.

[Snowrunner]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Snowrunner', '
')I wouldn't mind if people would stop always being so much in a hurry.

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pogoliamo', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'A')ll they're doing is maintaining the infrastructure to keep workers, consumers, bank, derivatives experts, oil oligarchs, and all the other functionaries in a dysfunctional system rolling along at speed. The underlying problem remains...wasteful use in an instant of resources that took this planet many epochs to generate.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Snowrunner', '
')True, but it's more a question of money as of time, wouldn't you agree?

[Snowrunner]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Snowrunner', '
')True, but it's more a question of money as of time, wouldn't you agree?

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pogoliamo', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', 'T')ell me, exactly, how hoisting a 165,000-lb aircraft to 36,000 feet for a brief half hour, only to have it land it in another city a mere 200 miles away is the most efficient form of travel between such points?

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', 'A')llow me a moment.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

-pauses-

[emersonbiggins]

Cube, allow me to ignore your question, as amortizing infrastructure costs over a one-year operating period for any system seems a bit disingenuous, and pose another one.

How many trillions (in current value) in airport infrastructure was de facto turned over from the defense department to individual cities across the U.S., after WWII, (many for one single dollar) to benefit the civilian and commercial aviation industry, and why was all of this absent from balance sheets that would indicate a large subsidy towards airlines? Concrete runways are among the most cost-intensive infrastructures placed on planet Earth.