I think we should make our voices heard that not ONE single federal

[Horse with no Name]

bailout dollar should go to the airlines since they refused to help a city in need.
NOT ONE SINGLE TAX DOLLAR!

Let them eat cake!

[MercutioATC]

1. I need a link to this...

Since airplanes frequently fall out of the sky when they encounter convective activity, I have a hard time blaming the airlines.

Anybody have a link that suggests some legitimate reason to blame them?

[Horse with no Name]

2. The Governor spoke yesterday in a press conference

Said the airlines refused to keep flying people out of NO because there wasn't anyone flying in and they wouldn't make the flight one way.
I will look for a link.
It stranded thousands.

[Walt Starr]

3. Yup, she was FURIOUS

And after we bailed the airlines out for their failure to p[rovide security leading directly to the 9/11 debacle, too.

[MercutioATC]

4. Thanks, I'd like to see that.

If there were outbound passengers with tickets, the airlines had a moral responsibility to get them out (weather permitting). I wasn't aware that was the case.

[Horse with no Name]

7. I can't find a link since it was a news conference

But here is another thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4517810

[MercutioATC]

8. Thanks, that's about what I expected to find.

(that's not sarcasm or an attack on you)

From what I see, the airlines pulled their planes (which cost tens of millions of dollars each) out of NOLA shortly before the hurricane hit. Usually, when extreme weather hits, whatever entity runs the airport (it's the Port Authority in Cleveland) decides when to close it. When that happens, it's closed, period. Nobody gets clearances to land there. If they're already there, they stay (and lose their planes).

Without knowing exact timing, it's hard to make a call, but I don't see anything to beat up the airlines about.

[Neecy]

9. no....

They didn't pull the planes out of NOLA "shortly" before the hurricane hit. Flights were cancelled en masse on Sunday morning, more than 24 hours prior to landfall. The airport was open at the time, and it was open for much of Sunday.

Granted they didn't want to bring passengers into a hurricane zone, but they certainly could have ferried in some a/c to get people OUT. Profits before lives, though...

[MercutioATC]

11. Please look at Post #10 below.

Evacuation by air on Sunday was completely unnecessary. I think this is just a post-disaster knee-jerk reaction.

[prolesunited]

5. Please find that link

Putting profits before human lives is unconscionable. And after all of the federal money they have received, those flights were duly paid for by the American taxpayers.

[flyarm]

6. i heard the governor as well and she was angry !!

The governor had every right to be angry, she said there were no weather problems on sunday when the airlines stopped flying into NO..
she said there was no possible reason and she requested that the airlines keep flying in , and they didn't!

as a retired flt crew of one of the majors, i find this appalling!
when you know a cat 5 is coming it is a responsibility of the airlines to air lift as many out as possible...

but this happens all the time..the airlines scramble to get plane slots into other airports to get the planes out of an area about to be hit..
its a massive undertaking to get the planes scrambled..
but if the governor requested it..where was the * administration?? they should have commanded the airlines to help!
i put the blame on the * administration..they could have called an emergency and i don't know if they could have demanded the planes fly in and pick up people, but they would have had more weight to get the airlines to co-operate, and offered to pay the fuel!

remember the airlines are all almost flat broke...to take the chance of losing a plane is big...and no chances will be taken with passenger or crew lives...

but the government should have acted ...

also the government could have flown c130's in to airlift out..but they didn't..why?..maybe there were none available because of iraq??


look right now everything needs to be done to get these people to safety..there will be plenty of blame and plenty of time to assign blame afterwards...

its a waste of time now to start pointing fingers when so much needs to be done and expeditiously!

and after the fact..then lets hold anyone responsible for not helping the "people" ..and then lets grind them to the ground..but now ..there is so much that needs to be done..immediately!

fly

[MercutioATC]

10. A logistical observation.

If the airlines ran an extra 100 flights out of NOLA, that would amount to less than 20,000 evacuees (given the average size of planes).


If "there were no weather problems on sunday", why weren't people DRIVING out? It doesn't seem to me that there was a need for some grand airlift. People had days to evacuate and they CHOSE NOT TO (those without transportation who wanted to leave would be a small number and they'd be more easily served by buses, anyway).

I really don't see a problem with this.

[Horse with no Name]

12. Totally not true

There were many tourists trapped that couldn't get out.
There were many poor people who couldn't get rides out of town that wanted to leave.
20,000 people that could have gotten out...add that to 20,000 that could have been taken out by the school buses that are now underwater, then that would be 40,000 that they didn't have to worry getting out of the city now. There are currently 30,000 in the Superdome and more coming with deteriorating conditions.
Out of 1.3 million, 1 million people evacuated on their own.
There are now 300,000 people that have to be removed and 40,000 is a significant chunk of that. I wouldn't even speculate how many are dead in their homes and in the streets...but those 40,000 that COULD have been evacuated on Sunday would have been a good start.