The United States Air Transport Association (ATA) has hit back at comments by a senior congressman that the major US carriers are ‘brain-dead’ dinosaurs.
As reported by News From Abroad, John Mica, chairman of the House of Congress aviation sub-committee, accused some airlines of being like “pigs at the trough” during the months following the 11 September attacks, during which there was financial help available from Congress.
Mica reportedly said: “You can only feed dinosaurs for so long. The only way to be attractive is to have a profit – you guys haven’t found that out yet.” However, according to the Financial Times, the chief executive of ATA, James May, has refuted the allegations.
He reportedly told the newspaper: “The airline business collectively is a dynamic business working under some of the most difficult conditions imaginable. Since 9/11 we have taken nearly 1,000 planes out of service, we have cut hundreds of millions of dollars in operating costs, we have made every conceivable move to economise.”
