Let me begin by thanking all of you who have sent good wishes on my recovery from hip replacement surgery. So far, so good.
There is a great scene in the movie Bull Durham where the Kevin Costner character is advising the Tim Robbins character on how to deal with the media. The advice amounts to just stringing clichés together, one after the other (“we just play them one at a time, I just want to help my team win, etc”).
I thought about all this when I was looking at an article about the airline approach to air traffic control.
You recall last week I wrote about the silliness of the airlines approach to new investment in infrastructure: “do no harm.”. I just saw an article about their approach now to air traffic control: “Just say no!”
“Do no harm”. “Just say no”. What’s next? “Its morning in America”? “A chicken in every pot”? “A return to normalcy”?
“A Chicken in Every Pot” political ad and rebuttal article in New York Times, 10/30/1928
It is hard to avoid the idea that airlines just don’t want to see anything pass that would reauthorize the FAA, especially if it might result in better infrastructure on the ground or in the air. There is no rational reason to support inadequate infrastructure or outdated technology, but that becomes the result of the airline industry’s approach. I’ve seen it throughout my career, it is a constant strategy. I know there are many fine people in the airline industry who understand the limits of this approach and I hope they will succeed in moving the industry in a more constructive direction. Having worked throughout my career with good people from every sector of the aviation industry, it is instinctive to me to want to work together. I know we can do so, once we get past cliché as strategy.
One final note, there was a great article in today’s Washington Post Travel section about Travelers Aid at the Washington-area airports. I recommend it highly.
