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Bailouts (Airlines)
Old 03-17-2020, 08:01 AM   #1
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Bailouts (Airlines)

This article was in the news this morning:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...ans/111429912/

I recognize that, as usual, the taxpayer will have to take the brunt of this current crisis, however, I have a really hard time feeling like the airline industry shouldn't go to the back of the line. After treating us like cattle and providing little more than bus service in the air, I hope some of the support comes with strings attached. Take a couple rows out of each plane and stop charging for baggage would be my dream. But alas, it is but a dream. We'll bail them out and they'll thank us by making it even worse to travel by plane.
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Old 03-17-2020, 08:21 AM   #2
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My problem with this is the huge amount of money airlines have spent on a stock buybacks.

No point in saving for a rainy day then?
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Old 03-17-2020, 08:25 AM   #3
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My problem with this is the huge amount of money airlines have spent on a stock buybacks.

No point in saving for a rainy day then?
This ticked me off too. It seems the CEOs only care about short term profits, maybe it's because they know they will receive a hefty exit bonus if they screw up?
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Old 03-17-2020, 08:28 AM   #4
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Chapter 11 and debtor in possession financing. Stop rewarding the bad behavior.
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Old 03-17-2020, 08:43 AM   #5
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Boeing is looking for a short term bailout also. This is a company that spent $42B in the last five years buying back stock instead of investing in engineering. It is dragging down the Dow Jones index today.
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Old 03-17-2020, 08:47 AM   #6
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Only if lots of strings are attached:

1. Loans that must be paid back.
2. Break up the Big 3 to restore competition
3. Minimum standards for things like seat width, distance between seats, restroom size and the number of restrooms.
4. Restrictions on the terms of non-refundable tickets.
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Old 03-17-2020, 08:56 AM   #7
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My problem with this is the huge amount of money airlines have spent on a stock buybacks.

No point in saving for a rainy day then?
This^^^^^^^! x1000
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Old 03-17-2020, 08:59 AM   #8
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What degree of ownership does the country get for this?
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Old 03-17-2020, 09:17 AM   #9
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DH suggests that if theres an airline bailout, its a trade. Heres some govt money, now give us the stock.
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Old 03-17-2020, 09:22 AM   #10
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Let's just let the government take over the Airlines, everything works smoothly with everything else they control........
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Old 03-17-2020, 09:24 AM   #11
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Let's just let the government take over the Airlines, everything works smoothly with everything else they control........
Ownership doesn't mean running it. But no use letting others get bailed out.
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Old 03-17-2020, 09:28 AM   #12
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ALL of these things should be widely reported. not just stories about bankruptcies yabba jabba... get all this seemy BS on the table then gauge public reaction.
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Old 03-17-2020, 09:40 AM   #13
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Times like these show that our system is busted. Of course we’ll bail these companies out, because we can’t let the airlines, Boeing, etc, go bankrupt. This isn’t much different than any other time in history when markets crashed.

Boeing is a great example. The executive management did a terrible job and walked away with lots of cash. It could also be that this crisis helps them, since it gives them a scapegoat for their past business decisions. Aka, it’s not my fault! We didn’t expect a market downturn...

Oh well. I’m not sure how to fix this issue. The best I can think of is mandatory cash reserves before allowing stock buybacks/dividends.

Ideally, we’d let these companies fail, but that’s too high a cost for society.
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Old 03-17-2020, 09:46 AM   #14
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You should read the story of Boeing's recent history. How they moved corporate headquarters to Chicago so executives wouldn't get tied down with production issues. I believe it was also a Boeing CEO who had the new idea of building planes the way movies are made several years ago?
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Old 03-17-2020, 10:08 PM   #15
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Let's just let the government take over the Airlines, everything works smoothly with everything else they control........
I think the Italians just nationalized Alitalia. They were deep into loans with them anyway

And when the US airlines get bailed out we are gonna get no baggage fees....for life! that would help all the congestion in the main cabin with extra luggage
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Old 03-17-2020, 10:12 PM   #16
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Let's just let the government take over the Airlines, everything works smoothly with everything else they control........
So if it really is capitalism, a free market then don't give them a penny. Let them fail if that is their lot. Creative destruction. The free market will sort it out right. Big business just loves to have our cake and eat it too.
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Old 03-17-2020, 10:22 PM   #17
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Give them a loan with an 18% interest rate just like the credit card companies do. Let's see how creative they can get in preparing for the next crisis with these terms.
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Old 03-17-2020, 10:28 PM   #18
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Give them a loan with an 18% interest rate just like the credit card companies do. Let's see how creative they can get in preparing for the next crisis with these terms.
+1
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Old 03-17-2020, 10:29 PM   #19
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Let the airlines crash and burn, if the routes are profitable someone take them over.
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Old 03-17-2020, 11:25 PM   #20
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Only if lots of strings are attached:

1. Loans that must be paid back.
2. Break up the Big 3 to restore competition
3. Minimum standards for things like seat width, distance between seats, restroom size and the number of restrooms.
4. Restrictions on the terms of non-refundable tickets.
5. Free luggage
6. Free peanuts
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