What's Right With U.S. Airlines?

The point is that senior, unionized flight attendants are at times critical to passenger safety. They don't have to be young. They just have to be able to perform in emergencies.

So in making a list of what's right with U.S. airlines, let's start with safety:

Extreme safety
From 2002 through 2011, the fatality rate for U.S. commercial aviation was two deaths per 100 million passengers, according to a recent Associated Press analysis. Among 7.1 billion airline passengers, 153 died, the AP said.

On-time operations
Although the airline industry has come to be perceived as plagued by delays, the truth is that during the 12 months ending Oct. 31, the vast majority of flights -- 78.4% -- arrived on time. In fact, over the past 24 years, when the U.S. Transportation Department has been keeping track, 78.2% of all flights have arrived on time, even though each airline is disproportionately dependent on weather in hubs such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas and Chicago. (Arriving within 14 minutes of schedule is considered to be on time.)

Profitability, finally
Over the past few years, as a result of capacity reductions and the implementation of fees for service, the U.S. airline industry has developed a model that would seem capable of generating sustained profitability. While paying fees does not make passengers happy, it is clearly within our national interest to have a profitable airline industry capable of investing in new aircraft, paying decent wages and upgrading the infrastructure used by its passengers.

Available bargains
Fares are still a bargain in many cases. Since 2000, the price of oil has increased 85% and the consumer price index has increased by 27%, but the cost of a round-trip domestic airline ticket including fees has increased by just 7%, according to the trade group Airlines for America. Airline travel remains inexpensive for those willing to adjust travel times and to book in advance -- sometimes far in advance.

Reasonable jobs
Partially as a result of unionization, the airline industry enables viable careers for around 400,000 employees -- even for some who are no longer young.

Finally, just for fun, let's list the three things that are really wrong with the U.S. airline industry

Aging infrastructure
Aging infrastructure, particularly in the air traffic control system, creates delays and requires less-than-optimal safety practices.

Excessive taxation
Taxes and fees account for about 20% of the cost of a $300 domestic ticket, with much of the tax money redirected not to infrastructure enhancement but rather to the federal budget.

Inefficient security
The vast majority of the passengers who go through airport security are obviously not terrorists. But we have not figured out a way to separate the good guys from the bad guys, so we screen every single passenger, resulting in inconvenience, delays and high costs (not to mention innumerable bizarre, absurd, frustrating and confidence-shaking examples of poor thinking skills applied to unjustifiable effect). Not every part of this problem is easily fixed, but it's important to keep thinking about it.

-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.

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