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<P mce_keep="true">[quote user="Maglev"] <P><STRONG><FONT color=#000000 size=4>In the face of a crumbling airline industry, we need more government investment in railroads:</FONT></STRONG></P> <DIV class=orgurl> <H1><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Airline event reflects industry slump</FONT></H1></DIV> <DIV id=wrapper_vid><FONT color=#000000></FONT></DIV> <DIV id=wrapper_500><FONT color=#000000></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 15px" class=storysubhead><FONT color=#000000><EM>"Media questions fly at a somber meeting of international carrier executives who are focused on survival. The industry has been rocked by the recession, swine flu outbreak and the Air France crash."</EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 15px" class=storybyline><FONT color=#000000>By Peter Pae, Los Angeles <EM>Times</EM><BR>June 9, 2009 </FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 15px" class=storybyline>(excerpts)</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 15px" class=storybyline><FONT color=#000000>"Reporting from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- The telltale signs of an industry in crisis were unavoidable at the biggest airline trade group's yearly gathering..."</FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 15px" class=storybyline><STRONG><FONT color=#000000 size=4>"One of the highlights of the event: a panel on whether aviation could ever be economically sustainable. (The consensus: Maybe, but only after further painful consolidation.)"</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 15px" class=storybyline><BR> <DIV class=storybody><FONT color=#000000>"'We've never seen anything like this before,' Jong Hee Lee, president of Korean Air Lines Co. and a 40-year veteran of the carrier, said of the travel slump that had hammered the industry. 'Everybody is saying, 'Let's survive.' '"</FONT></DIV> <DIV class=storybody><FONT color=#000000><BR>"The association's 226 member airlines, including the largest U.S. carriers -- Delta, American and United -- account for about 93% of the world's international traffic. No event draws as many airline chief executives, estimated at 150 at this year's meeting."</FONT></DIV><FONT color=#000000> <DIV class=storybody><BR>"In one of the conference's more depressing moments, the group's CEO announced Monday that the industry would lose $9 billion this year, more than double the forecast made just two months ago."<BR><BR>"Revenue is projected to tumble 15% to $448 billion, a drop more than twice as big as the falloff in sales after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."</DIV> <DIV class=storybody><BR>"And airline executives say there's little relief in sight..."</FONT></DIV> <DIV class=storybody><FONT color=#000000></FONT> </DIV> <DIV class=storybody><FONT color=#000000 size=4><STRONG>full story at:</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=storybody><A href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-airlines9-2009jun09,0,3942501.story">http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-airlines9-2009jun09,0,3942501.story</A></DIV></DIV> <P>[/quote]</P> <P mce_keep="true">Volatility has been a characteristic of the airline business since the get go.  It will always be the case.  Airlines come and go, but to think that airplanes are going to disappear and people are going to flock to trains is unrealistic.</P> <P>Investment in passenger rail makes sense for relatively high density, short corridors where expanding highways and airways is cost prohibitive.  Thus, a significant per cent of commercial passengers take the train from Philadelphia to New York.  The percentage of commercial passengers taking the train from Charlotte to New York is very low.</P>
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