US politician criticises ‘brain dead’ carriers
A senior United States politician responsible for aviation issues has told “brain dead” US airlines that they will not get any more financial help from Congress.
According to the Financial Times, John Mica, chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, told a meeting of senior industry figures in Washington: “You can only feed the dinosaurs for so long. The way to be attractive is to make a profit – you guys haven’t found that out yet.”
As reported, there was widespread concern that US carriers were “bailed out” to the tune of US$15 billion in the wake of the 11 September attacks; Congress also allowed some US$2.9 billion to go to the airline industry following the war on Iraq.
But while the FT reports that Mr Mica defended the support for the industry, the politician suggested that some carriers may have taken advantage of Congress’ generosity. He reportedly stated: “I have no qualms about what we did after 11 September. Some of that was justified and some of it was pigs at the trough. Some others happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
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