The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce disagrees with the Tribune’s Oct. 23 editorial “Time to force change at United.” Our concern is that the Tribune fails to acknowledge the historic efforts being undertaken by the industry in general, and United in particular, to cope with the most difficult period in aviation history.
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It seems to believe that the airline, its employees, shareholders, vendors and, indeed, the entire Chicagoland region, would be better off if United threw in the towel and let a bankruptcy judge look out for its interests.
Simply put, there has been an unprecedented drop in demand, particularly from business passengers, since Sept. 11, 2001. By some estimates, industry revenues were down 20 percent.
Never before have airlines faced such a serious challenge to their existence.
And never before have the airlines so quickly responded with such wide-ranging and deep-reaching actions. To the best of our knowledge, since Sept. 11, 2001, the six largest network airlines cut 80,000 jobs, reduced capacity by 19 percent and implemented numerous cost-cutting measures. United has taken decisive action by cutting jobs (20,000) and reducing capacity (20 percent), more than any other carrier, as well as closing certain airport stations, reservation centers and maintenance facilities.
United’s decision to apply to the Air Transportation Stabilization Board for a loan guarantee, with the support of the Chicago business community, was a proactive business decision, and resulted in the fund that was established to help ailing airlines. Congress established the loan guarantee program after Sept. 11 for this very purpose.
All airlines had the same opportunity to participate in this program. The fact that, as the Tribune points out, some airlines declined that opportunity and announced recent layoffs speaks not to any failing by United but to a commercial decision by those carriers that the loan guarantee was not their preferable option.
Bankruptcy can be a useful tool for resolving some business problems. But it isn’t always the right solution; it can be painful for employees, shareholders and creditors, and cannot be treated cavalierly.
We couldn’t agree more with the Tribune when it states, “United Airlines is Chicago’s own. A lot of people here owe their jobs and their prosperity to United, and its health is critical to the local economy.”
Millions of people rely on United for travel, United employs 82,000 people, and United means billions of dollars to the region and the economy.
A healthy and strong United makes for a healthy and strong Chicago.