Gman

Full article:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/...ness/skies.php

I'd like to hear your opinions.
How will it affect us - new oportunities, ownership, routes.
What do you think?

RedeyeAV8r

General Rule........It is probably initally better for AVG Joe traveler as ther could potentailly be more flights and more competition.

Generally Bad for US carriers. While some competition is a good thing, There is already a lot of competition to/from Europe. Just when the US carriers are beginning to get back on their feet.


How many cities in France would US carriers really want to serve?
Paris (as they do now) as Compared to the Cities Air France would like to serve in the US?

Same goes for Germany and England? The US market is far more vast than each individual European Country. So who stands to benefit more?

Sanchez

It's about time. Now is just a matter of capacity management.

captjns

Good for both LCCs and great for passengers on both sides of the pond. Competition will seeks its own balance and truly determine who will survive the next round of competition fares.

Linebacker35

I think it will be a good thing. Get some mergers going here in the states, create a few Super airlines and take the fight to them europeans. Resulting in an icreased market for the US airlines.... huge expansion!

RedeyeAV8r

Realize that most mergers create duplication which needs to be reduced.

Where do you see a Huge expansion for US carriers? They already fly to every European Capitol city and then some.

I do not se a Big market for ATL- Lyon or Detroit to Heidleberg

fireman0174

But the European carriers see a big market for NYC to LAX/SFO and lots of others.

RedeyeAV8r

Exactly......The European carriers get full access to the largest Domestic market in the world.

What do the US carriers get? A few more slots at Heathrow and De Gaulle.

BTW for the previous poster who said this would be good for LCC's,
I don't see this helping the them either. Certainly there might be Code share agreements, but you could have those now. This will no doubt bring more uneeded economic pressure on the Legacies. If their pay scales don't go up, do you realistically see a positive trend for any LCC pay scales?

captjns

The open skies will permit airlines to fly to secondary airports surrounding main destinations at lower operating service costs. Just as some EU carriers can fly to secondary international airports in the US at lower operating cost too. Airlines from the US will probably take advantage of less costly airports surrounding key destinations in Europe such as Stansted or Luton for London, Bergamo which is not to far from Milan. As far as airlines from Europe are concerned, the same will apply operating, say for example, into Pease, NH which is close to Boston, Sanford, FL.

With lower operating costs, the LCCs from both sides of the ocean may be in better positions, financially, perhaps, but not experience wise, to advantage of the open skies versus the legacy carriers.

As far as increases in salaries and restoration of benefits??? When the pilots have had enough, they will deal with their respective situations.

A320fumes

As a middle-class American, I'm leary of anything the Bush administration pushes.