All corporations should be governed at all times. Reason: Corporate culture, which generates itself in different environments can get carried away with current fiscal matters--you can wind up with a pack of boys in a tree house easily. When this goes international, who is in charge? Boeing had a good reputation before Max; let's hope it can be restored in the future.

(Written on 22/05/2020)(Permalink)

Visited Adak back in July 1959 when sailing on the troopship S.S. Fred C. Ainsworth (single screw, 14 knots) from Seattle to Yokohama; Adak was about half-way. We had military cargo to unload there. That poor island looks God-forsaken. No trees, the island looked like it had just emerged from the sea, and there was a low-lying fog showing only the bottom of the land parts, hovering about 20 feet above the water. I didn't see any dinosaurs that day. It was a Navy air station with necessary personnel. I went ashore for services at the Bering Chapel just to claim I had landed there. I still have the church calendar.

(Written on 15/05/2020)(Permalink)

Only way to fly today. Makes it safer on the plane, too. I, who used to work at FAA Hq in Washington, have been shocked in recent years by all the aircraft being manufactured, and wondered who needs all this production. I can now say safely that we overdid it, and made it too easy to fly all kinds of people all over the world. Too many international students flying here, and also too easy for too many business travelers to be all over the place. Maybe that makes us look prestigious, but look at all the resulting deaths here.

(Written on 17/04/2020)(Permalink)

Respect these people; there, but for the grace of God, go you and your family. Can you afford to be arrogant? I used to be in this class. Intelligent university grad, not on drugs nor alcoholic, but unable to afford the high rents in this country, and not knowledgeable about any reasonable units available. Medical problems led me to housing, but I am still surprised to see the attitudes of others toward this class of people. Were their critics to experience homelessness, they would adopt a totally different attitude. Solution: National rent control, which none of our brilliant politicians seems to consider. With current events or the depressed market this will happen.

(Written on 11/04/2020)(Permalink)

Let's just do it the old-fashioned way: pay at the gate when you pick up your ticket to board. Then if the flight is cancelled, you don't show up, no money exchanges hands, and no refund is due.

(Written on 10/04/2020)(Permalink)

And the flying public should not have to pay for Boeing's mistake. I (and most people) would not want to fly on any aircraft with this type of design (MCAS). By the way I used to work for FAA, Washington, but not in flight standards. I was just a lowly computer programmer.

(Written on 10/04/2020)(Permalink)

Maybe if in Germany you could file a lien and claim a piece of a Lufthansa-owned aircraft. This may be a good reason to stick to domestic corporations on international flights. When you get back you can keep calling them and filing court actions. With luck you could claim a piece of the tail or something.

(Written on 10/04/2020)(Permalink)

O.K. Dan, we have sloppy refund rules; Don Trump and others are responsible for this and should watch their ways? O.K.

(Written on 10/04/2020)(Permalink)

Why is the capitalism process to blame here? Capitalism is merely a group organizing to raise funds for a large innovation, and has nothing to do with a bunch of crooks who may be using it for their purposes. Do all large corporations need better supervision from whistleblowers/police and honest politicians? Yes.

(Written on 10/04/2020)(Permalink)

Agreed. In attempting to operate any business there is RISK, which may not be totally obvious up front before investing/beginning. We all love aircraft which get us there, but are these companies with their large executive salaries, so special as to deserve special treatment?

(Written on 10/04/2020)(Permalink)