Agreed, I don't think the legroom fee itself is even a primary money-maker. It's more of a redistribution of fares than it is a straight fee. It's also a free benefit for frequent fliers, which in turn lowers demand for full upgrades to business/first, allowing more full fare sales in those classes again, which declined in the years of upgrade fever. (upgrades have also gotten much more costly thanks to co-pays)
United has received a tremendous amount of ridicule for have 31" standard pitch in coach, which is too cramped even for an average person with the newer thicker seats. As a result the newer planes (like the new 787 configuration) and airlines that chose to copy United have to preserve more leg room, and don't see a huge direct benefit from redistributing the space - certainly nothing like the diagram above implies.
They are still losing seats, but they provide a service a lot of people want with enough of a fee to make it balance out, but low enough to sell, and push the plane to full occupancy - something which wasn't happening for years and also really helps with profitability.
Protect them my ass, from what, the appearance that they have competition in the real world? Guess what, that's supposed to be protected in the EU. It's not like it will affect the fact that their products are still the only thing you can buy in the venues. They may have spent millions of pounds, but they will make everything back, no doubt.
You'll have more people trying to wear Pepsi shirts now than you did before - this bad press will do more damage than just keeping their mouths shut would have.
@Mizition: I chuckled, but bud, coors, and miller have no real right to be called beer at all, much less american beer. There are too many legitimately good breweries in the states these days to let that goat piss color one's perspective. :)
Talk about a biased article/editorial. I don't know that it's a great explanation since it comes far from covering all the important details. The most basic issue is that you can't talk "richer" unless you factor in Cost Of Living, which is notably higher for the bulk of Canadians. Also, the reason Canada is in better shape now than the US isn't because it's trending better, it's because the economy is more stable, which simply means that as the US slumps, Canada still hangs on. On the flip side, as the US booms (until such time that the US economy actually does collapse and there are no more booms), Canada won't see quite as large of a benefit.
There is serious discussion and lesson-learning to be done here, but unfortunately this article skips it all for the sake more political BS.
killer: in areas where it is being properly managed, very, very few people are abusing it. If they just want to get high it's easier to get it off the street. Do your homework before making stupid accusations.
As someone who had a parent using medical marijuana during her final months with a disease very similar to ALS, and to great effect - a) people who think it's for dubious ailments can go stuff themselves, and b), yeah, the high is part of the medical benefit when you are talking about terminally ill patient or those in extreme pain, so this THC-free version is going to have a more limited application. It doesn't replace the need, but certainly it would help in some cases.
So the guy wants concealed cameras used for wildlife studies on land he's not supposed to be on in the first place to be marked so he knows where not to have sex in the forest, that again he's not supposed to be in.
Um, no. You got caught being an animal by an animal cam. Get over it.
@Michael Miller: No, because cars are not legally entitled to, but bikes are (sometimes, depends on the region). On sidewalks you have your own set of problems with skateboarders, bladers, and scooters as well - there aren't nearly as many, no, but their behavior and risk on sidewalks is the same, and they do cause injuries and even occasion fatalities. The only thing unique about bikes is that they are legally allowed to be on both. In my state there are different laws which apply to bicyclists on the road and on the sidewalk, but the basic gist is that they have to stay with the traffic (which means slow down on sidewalks and use a bell or verbally let people know when you are passing) and obey the same laws as those around them. There are specific guidelines for moving from the sidewalk to the road and visa versa as well.
Most people get that, and in fact, percentage-wise as we get more cyclists it our city, the people ignoring those laws goes down, not up, because there are a lot of people out there who care about the safety of themselves and others. If there was any effort to enforce the laws it would go down further, but much like jaywalking it represents a smaller income to the city, so the police usually don't bother.
Most people *don't* act like entitled brats though those who do stand out and ruin it for the rest of us, just like the idiots who cross four lanes on the freeway at 90mph. It's actually even worse for bicyclists because the more responsible and safety-concerned ones tend to hang to back streets to keep out of traffic, so they aren't the ones you see on your commute anyways.
One more time, it's not the cyclists that are the problem, it's the morons on the bikes that are the problem. Stop grouping them all as the same, because they aren't. If you don't believe me, get involved in commuter bike groups in your area yourself, and you'll see the line - it's the same as in any other group of people.
azog: And where I live just as many cars blow through red lights, ignore stop signs and don't check for pedestrians. Purely by statistics, per driver many more people are injured or killed by cars than bikes. So should I say drivers are a menace to society? That attitude is exactly why it's so difficult to get anywhere in fixing infrastructure and finding better ways to enforce the laws of the road so the road is safe regardless of your mode of transportation. Having pissing matches about who's the biggest nuisance just puts everyone on the defensive. Better to just work together to counter the morons that exist in every bucket.
Really guys? Maybe that's not your intent, but why would you add fuel to the fire by using that particular headline? The source article certainly didn't. It's painfully obvious that this guy was criminally negligent, and it wouldn't make one lick of difference if he was riding a bike, driving a car, or flying an airplane. He valued the thrill over the safety of others.
Stupid people are a menace to society, in their many, many forms. Leave the majority of the people, bicyclists and otherwise, who are actually trying to be responsible out of it.
Loss of certain industry is killing the member count of existing unions, but the decline in overall percentage (meaning the lack of unions overall in the workplace) has something to do with the fact that very few unions do much to noticeably protect or assist their membership any more. Some of that is the unions' fault, with union leadership worried more about themselves and their egos than their members, and some of that is because the primary tool at the bargaining table on both sides is now simply labor law. The corporation keeps on eating at the union agreements until all that's left is what they can legally get away with. Yeah unions help make sure they don't cross that line, but a) they shouldn't have to, and b) one of the other benefits of the information age - public whistle-blowing, means it's not as necessary any more.
United has received a tremendous amount of ridicule for have 31" standard pitch in coach, which is too cramped even for an average person with the newer thicker seats. As a result the newer planes (like the new 787 configuration) and airlines that chose to copy United have to preserve more leg room, and don't see a huge direct benefit from redistributing the space - certainly nothing like the diagram above implies.
They are still losing seats, but they provide a service a lot of people want with enough of a fee to make it balance out, but low enough to sell, and push the plane to full occupancy - something which wasn't happening for years and also really helps with profitability.
You'll have more people trying to wear Pepsi shirts now than you did before - this bad press will do more damage than just keeping their mouths shut would have.
There is serious discussion and lesson-learning to be done here, but unfortunately this article skips it all for the sake more political BS.
Um, no. You got caught being an animal by an animal cam. Get over it.
Most people get that, and in fact, percentage-wise as we get more cyclists it our city, the people ignoring those laws goes down, not up, because there are a lot of people out there who care about the safety of themselves and others. If there was any effort to enforce the laws it would go down further, but much like jaywalking it represents a smaller income to the city, so the police usually don't bother.
Most people *don't* act like entitled brats though those who do stand out and ruin it for the rest of us, just like the idiots who cross four lanes on the freeway at 90mph. It's actually even worse for bicyclists because the more responsible and safety-concerned ones tend to hang to back streets to keep out of traffic, so they aren't the ones you see on your commute anyways.
One more time, it's not the cyclists that are the problem, it's the morons on the bikes that are the problem. Stop grouping them all as the same, because they aren't. If you don't believe me, get involved in commuter bike groups in your area yourself, and you'll see the line - it's the same as in any other group of people.
Stupid people are a menace to society, in their many, many forms. Leave the majority of the people, bicyclists and otherwise, who are actually trying to be responsible out of it.
Or thanks pizza hut, but you can go stuffed-crust yourselves.