
Why Investing in Airlines Belongs in the Too Hard Pile - jseliger
http://25iq.com/2016/01/16/more-than-a-dozen-reasons-why-investing-in-airlines-belongs-in-the-too-hard-pile/
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zekevermillion
Seems like everyone involved in airlines makes money _except_ the
shareholders. Financiers who sponsor aircraft and engine leases, speculate on
residual value, and take other niche risks. Union employees. C-Suite officers.
Lawyers, consultants, accountants.

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mikeyouse
My aunt was one of those union employees with United for 35 years, after which
she retired and they then cut her pension by roughly 40%. She got to go back
to work at 65-years old. Maybe scratch union members off your list of people
who do well in the airline world.

Article from 2005 with the details:
[http://articles.latimes.com/2005/apr/23/business/fi-
ual23](http://articles.latimes.com/2005/apr/23/business/fi-ual23)

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zekevermillion
I did not mean to imply that the union employees of airlines got a fair deal!
I think a big problem from a shareholder's perspective is that airlines
periodically use bankruptcy protection to renegotiate their deals with
everyone, including the unions. But the shareholders aren't the only ones
getting screwed.

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RickHull
> “I don’t care what you cover the seats with as long as you cover them with
> assholes.” Eddie Rickenbacker, Eastern Airlines.

Yep, it's _the_ Eddie Rickenbacker
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Rickenbacker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Rickenbacker)

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Animats
_" Yet, the net amount of money that’s been made by the shareholders of
airlines since Kitty Hawk, is now a negative figure—a substantial negative
figure."_

I first heard that about 20 years ago, but then it was at breakeven.
Apparently it's become worse.

Berkshire Hathaway owns NetJets, an airline for the 1%. That's profitable.

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Nicholas_C
Is there a source for that? I always hear that airlines have been break even
since Kitty Hawk, but never seen any actual work done to prove so.

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achamayou
With oil dropping as it is now, they might get temporarily lucky.

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dplgk
Why investing-in-airlines belongs in the "Too hard" pile.

