[emersonbiggins]

Boy, that last $15 billion sure didn't last them very long!

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('catbox', 'I') wrote a letter to god once. My step dad still beat me and and my dog died. Actually I'm still waiting for a reply.

I went to http://www.stopoilspeculationnow.com/

[Jack]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', '
')If Uncle Sam bans all Americans from speculating anywhere / everywhere, I will have nowhere to run and no where to hide.

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Snowrunner', 'S')o looks like certain industries (including oil) are getting desperate in trying to get the price of oil down.

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you:

www.stopoilspeculationnow.com

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')ow to Contact Us

Coalition to Stop Oil Speculation Now
c/o Air Transport Association (ATA) of America, Inc.
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW - Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20004-1707

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', '.')..
I said it once today, but its worth repeating. Ignorance is still our biggest enemy. Even in this age of information! Or disinformation as the case may be? ; - ))

[ki11ercane]

Well I tried to post there but my post will be "reviewed by a moderator." I doubt it will be posted. Only "happy spin" for that site.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'I')t's part of a PR campaign designed to soften up Congress as the airlines prepare to tap into some public money as a short-term fix.

[efarmer]

Derek Bok had a line on this:

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."


And so did Will Rogers, the American folk pundit:

A fool and his money are soon elected.
Will Rogers

A holding company is a thing where you hand an accomplice the goods while the policeman searches you.
Will Rogers

Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing, and that was the closest our country has ever been to being even.
Will Rogers

An economist's guess is liable to be as good as anybody else's.
Will Rogers

An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.
Will Rogers

An onion can make people cry but there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.
Will Rogers

Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?
Will Rogers


Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.
Will Rogers

[MrBill]

If high fuel prices don't ground airplanes then insurance and over-regulation surely will.

``It's bureaucracy gone mad,'' said Trevor Cherrington, 49, a civil servant who paid 90 pounds ($179) for one of the 64-year- old planes' last joyrides. ``If they've been flying this many years, how have they suddenly become dangerous?''

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he twin-propeller Dakotas, first built by Douglas Aircraft Co. in 1935, have a maximum altitude of 20,800 feet and top speed of 192 miles an hour, about 30 percent slower than the world's fastest car. In Europe, the model became famous for carrying paratroopers to France from England on D-Day, in 1944, and dropping supplies during the Berlin Airlift, in 1948 and 1949.

``After the war, DC-3s were the backbone of airlines around the world,'' said historian Henry Holden, the author of two books on the aircraft. ``It is an easy airplane to fly, `forgives' many pilot errors, and its reputation has been passed down from generation to generation.''

Fuel costs and soaring commodity prices are also making the upkeep of vintage aircraft more difficult, Parr said. Air Atlantique's DC-6, on display at the Farnborough International Air Show, takes 11,000 liters (2,905 gallons) of aviation fuel.

[Ferretlover]

Pup, +1 !

[CarlosFerreira]

I didn't expect them to acknowledge the stupidity of unrealistically low prices. But this is too much!

[criticalmass]

Maybe obesity isn't funny, but come on... this is funny stuff!

Lose weight or pay more. I hardly see it as a loss of rights to have to pay more if you take up two seats worth of girth or mass.

:D

[Ferretlover]

It seems as though the airlines only want perfect, compliant passengers. Look next to seeing no babies or small children allowed because they can't help rescue themselves or they are too disruptive. Then, no elderly because they might need medical attention during the flight. No one with any chronic illness or condition (disabled) for the same reason. No English-first-language on US flights because they might not understand a direction given by the stewards/stewardesses.
Nothing like training the masses to realize that they must exercise restraint in moving around the country.

[mos6507]

Won't the airlines won't heal their finances some with the pullback in oil prices?

[Aaron]

I fly frequently all over the globe for work.

I wore a bruise on my right side for a few weeks, from a 3 hour flight next to an obese man in the seat to my left. He took up almost half my seat because he overflowed his. Towards the end of the flight I couldn't help involuntary wincing when I shifted in my seat.

As we exited the plane, he quietly apologized for crowding me.

I was torn...

One the one hand, I doubt very much his weight represents a deliberate choice to be overweight. On the other hand, why should I be physically punished for a stranger's physical condition?

Should the stranger be punished for either a genetic condition causing his obesity, or a lack of will-power in avoiding overeating?

Air travel must be profitable... or there won't be any,

It's a tough question with many nuanced issues.

I rather suspect, as already noted this thread, that the reality of transport fuel costs will force the issue eventually.

Your dog wants mini-fusion reactors.

[Roy]

I think the idea of charging airline passengers by the their weight and the weight of the luggage is fair.

If that were the case, perhaps peope would be a little more thoughtful when packing for an air trip.

I know I would. If I ever had to get back on a plane again, which I will not do of my own freewill.

[StuckInPhilly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'I') fly frequently all over the globe for work.
I wore a bruise on my right side for a few weeks, from a 3 hour flight next to an obese man in the seat to my left. He took up almost half my seat because he overflowed his. Towards the end of the flight I couldn't help involuntary wincing when I shifted in my seat.
As we exited the plane, he quietly apologized for crowding me.
I was torn...
One the one hand, I doubt very much his weight represents a deliberate choice to be overweight. On the other hand, why should I be physically punished for a stranger's physical condition? Should the stranger be punished for either a genetic condition causing his obesity, or a lack of will-power in avoiding overeating?

[lowem]

If the airlines want to treat passengers like freight, they could stuff them into the 747 freighter/cargo model - they will squeeze in more people that way. Bang for the buck.

[gwmss15]

If they are going to charge extra for large/heavy passenegrs then they should provide a larger seat to go with that extra charge otherwise its unfair and unjustifiable. This can be a seat with the same as any other economy seat just with more width or legroom (tall passengers) then charging extra is fine but not a business class rates.

Eastbay
"Since we were a family of four, we didn't board and two single passengers did instead. Rather that wait until evening for the next flight we rented a car and drove the 160 miles. "

Why did you not just take an intercity commuter train or even an intercity express bus flying that short 160 mile distance is a real waste of fuel. The flight should not exist its too short.