Anyone with half a mind who does any traveling knows that what has been going on with the airlines and airports since 911 in unsustainable. The level of human resources required to pat down/screen/harass every single passenger so as not to offend Muslims (when jihad is the only threat the airlines have faced since 911) is unsustainable. The airlines went from a customer service industry to a police state agency.
And who has had to pay? The airline industry and the American taxpayer. Most Americans simply shrugged and traveled less, preferring not to put up with the invasive stupidity of the TSA and the rising ticket prices. But for those of us who have to travel to our work, we suffered the interminable delays, lines and harassment. Watching the decimation of the airline industry by our feckless government has been painful.
"The last decade has been extraordinarily hard on the U.S. airline industry," Horton said, noting that bankruptcy filings by other major airlines. "The people of American Airlines have worked very hard and very honorably over the past decade to avoid that path but we are now at a point where it's time to turn the page and move forward."
American Airlines has filed for bankruptcy. American was the only major U.S. airline that didn't file for bankruptcy protection in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks that triggered a deep slump in the airline industry. The last major airline to file for bankruptcy protection was Delta in 2005.
American Lands in Bankruptcy Wall Street Journal
Parent of No. 3 Airline Seeks Court Protection Amid High Fuel and Labor Costs
The parent of American Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection, an abrupt course change by one of the country's largest carriers that caps a decade of restructurings that are helping revive the long-troubled industry.
AMR Corp. said its filing on Tuesday in New York would help it cut costs and emerge more competitive after losing more than $10 billion since 2001.
The Fort Worth, Texas, company for years has resisted the type of court-protected restructuring that allowed other big carriers including United Continental Holdings Inc.'s United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. to realign costs and find merger partners. AMR said ...
The Effects of the Islamic Attacks on the US on 911
Reduction in Passenger DemandDirectly after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the federal government closed airports, canceling thousands of flights at a direct cost to airlines. However, even when the airports reopened, passengers were wary of air travel, and airlines experienced at least a 30 percent reduction in demand during the initial shock period immediately following the reopening. In addition, business travel accounts for one of the most profitable segments in the airline business, and after the attacks, a significant number of businesses temporarily suspended non-essential travel for their employees.
Bankruptcy and Large-Scale Layoffs
The week following the attacks, Congress put together a law that created the Air Transportation Stabilization Board, a body authorized to give faltering airlines up to $10 billion in loans. Despite this government-funded measure, several prominent American airlines declared bankruptcy not long after the 9/11 attacks, included US Airways and United Airlines. As a result of the massive financial loses due to lack of passenger demand, canceled flights and increased expenditures for security, even airlines that did not have prior financial issues were forced to renegotiate labor contracts and lay off high numbers of employees, such as the 7,000 employees laid off by American Airlines.
Indirect Effects of New Air Security Procedures
Established on November 11, 2001, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and its overhaul of airport security processes were one of the most immediate and long-term consequences of the 9/11 attacks. Although the heightened airport security procedures do not directly affect airline operations, the new process has caused a noticeable subset of airline passengers who opt for different modes of transportation or skip travel entirely. An economic study from Cornell University in 2007 showed that federal baggage screenings brought about a 6 percent reduction in passenger volume across the board, with a 9 percent reduction in the nation's busiest airports, totaling a nearly $1 billion loss for the airline industry.
