It's been time for so long. The whole airline industry is shattering under the weight of capitalism. It's breathtaking watching the accelerating decay of vital national infrastructure, and Capitalism's apparently complete inability to counter-act it's own corrosive tendencies.

[–] davel@hexbear.net 16 points 7 months ago (2 children)

As far as I know the US airline industry has always been propped up by brrrrrrrrrrrr . It’s always gotten subsidies and bailouts.

[–] Frank@hexbear.net 15 points 7 months ago

You're right as far as I know. But from what I understand the airlines have cut things so close to the bone that the system is on the verge of total, irrecoverable collapse. There's a crisis with finding enough pilots - becoming a pilot is ruinously expensive and many were killed or disabled by covid. A lot of the infrastructure that allows the planning of flights and monitoring of planes is ancient, on the verge of collapse, and very hard to replace. Boeing, obviously, is having problems.

[–] DragonBallZinn@hexbear.net 10 points 7 months ago

I'm starting to worry just how non-competitive US industry actually is. I swear, the poster child for capitalism is the most inferior version of capitalism. Switzerland would make for a much better capitalist rival than the US.