Very weirdly reported puff-piece on the airline industry from CNN. They’re reporting that delays and customer complaints are both down, and attributing it to greater competence on the part of the airline. There’s hardly a suggestion that the reduction in customer complaints could be ascribed to the fact that with the dot-bomb, no one can afford to fly anymore (fewer passengers, fewer complaints), and that the reduction in delays might be because the airlines have dropped so many of their routes (fewer planes to manage, better odds of an on-time departure). The closest they come is a speculation from one guy who mentions a slight drop in business in the first two quarters of 2001, and says that passengers must’ve gotten so disgusted that they stopped flying (!). How did this reporter manage to find half a dozen sources who hadn’t heard that commercial aviation is in big, big trouble? (It’s worth mentioning that in my experience, the el crappo airlines — Frontier, Continental, America West — are doing a brisk trade with business travellers with tightened belts, while the bigs — United, etc — are flying nearly empty jets around). Link Discuss (via Exciting Monkeybum Stories for Boys and Girls)