SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
[...] Under these "use it or lose it" regulations, prior to the pandemic carriers had to utilise at least 80pc of their scheduled take-off and landing slots.
This was revised to 50pc as coronavirus saw travel become increasingly difficult – but airlines are still struggling to hit this target.
As a result of Lufthansa Group's latest figures, the Belgian federal government has written to the European Commission, calling for a change to the rules on maintaining slots.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Lufthansa Group Confirmed that 18,000 Flights had been Flown Empty to Keep Airport Slots
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 53 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Can anyone remember when the times were not hard, and money not scarce?
(Score: 3, Touché) by DrkShadow on Tuesday January 11 2022, @08:10PM (10 children)
Maintaining "slots". Whatever those are. (Pull the handle, win a prize?)
How about... just not? If you have to fly empty planes to maintain your "slots" then you clearly don't need those slots. Let them lapse.
If society has to shoulder the costs of flying those planes (tax credits to airlines for non-full flights), the environmental cost of those flights (... omfg), the noise pollution, the business profits - just shut these businesses down completely. Maybe allow one airline to run on alternating months. Fine them into oblivion for environmental destruction. Deny them the purchase of fuel from fossil fuel providers. Charge them with funding terrorism for buying fossil fuels from rogue states.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday January 11 2022, @08:14PM (8 children)
If they let their slots lapse, then by the rules BOZOAIR will be able to come in and take the open slots and the carriers who have reliably serviced the routes for decades will not be allowed to regain the slots when business recovers. By the rules. The over simple rules that never considered something like a long term temporary dramatic downturn in air travel.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday January 11 2022, @08:25PM
And then, like the worst "Slot Trolls" sell them back to Lufthansa for $Profit.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 11 2022, @08:27PM (4 children)
Damn, if only the rule weren't set in stone millennia ago... wait, rules? not commandments? so like we can change them? hmm...
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 11 2022, @10:16PM (2 children)
Um, this is Europe. It's easier to emigrate
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 11 2022, @11:50PM (1 child)
As long as you are the right color, I suppose. I've saw the great welcome you guys rolled out for those people coming up from Greece.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 12 2022, @12:55AM
Welcome to America!
Love your gyros!
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday January 12 2022, @03:50AM
Yeah, like we change all the rules every 4 years when a new figurehead is installed in the Oval office and he swings his big phallic symbol on the executive orders... except, that's all theater, things change more slowly in the real world.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Touché) by DrkShadow on Tuesday January 11 2022, @09:24PM
Then you're saying that another airline _is_ servicing this route, and justifiably needs the routes?
Whatever shall we do....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 12 2022, @04:10PM
> never considered something like a long term temporary dramatic downturn in air travel
The whole industry is based on boom and bust. Literally the whole thing is boom and bust. Plus me likey the boom boom.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 13 2022, @07:36AM
I am sort of leaning toward one proposed solution that has been working its way through the various systems instead of getting the slots and then treating them like property. First part of it is that slots expire every six months. Second, they get allocated according to the current formula, same as if a company hadn't met its 80% requirement. Third, slots cannot be sold or leased but can serviced by other airlines. Fourth, each slot has a fee for owning and on each use with more popular slots getting higher fees. Fifth is that there is a refund for early surrender based on peak travel. There are also smaller details like servicing limits, utilization requirements, and some other things that slip my mind.
Together, these will result in less empty flights and more flights at better times. But a number of the large airlines paid big money for their slots and make big money leasing them or codesharing so the actual proposition is dead on arrival despite its support from other groups.