The Less Than Friendly Skies

What the heck is going on with maintenance in the airline industry? First British Airways completely fouls up the new Heathrow Terminal 5; Southwest gets smacked down by the FAA for failing inspections (in this administration? really? I may never fly Southwest again...); then United has to ground a half dozen or so planes because their altimeters were improperly calibrated (we'll call that an 'oops!'...); now American cancels well over 1,000 flights for for not properly correcting problems identified by the FAA last week (I know I'm never flying AA again!). I know that the costs of running an airline have all gone up while the prices are staying relatively low (which is how Catherine and I could afford a short trip to Spain last month), but when the Bush Administration is more worried about the public safety than in the welfare of a big business, it's time to re-evaluate the industry's business model!

On the other hand, AA.com is announcing a new route: JFK to Barcelona... hel-l-l-l-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o....!