I like all things aviation so I enjoyed listening for 2 years, but the show tended toward wishy-washy chatter, especially when conservative guests rotated through. The last straw was the guy with the drawl who read and agreed with a letter about how the US has become an unwelcoming place to foreign travelers. Minutes earlier, he'd said there was no reason for the government shutdown and he was just happy it was over. (Even Oscar Muñoz, former United CEO, had acknowledged the other side of the shutdown, namely, an attempt to save health insurance for tens of millions of Americans.)
No matter what the week's interview topic is, the host never misses a chance to push for privatizing US air traffic control. He's a journalist, not a public administrator. He seems to ignore the reality that EuroControl (fully privatized) has had safety violations, NavCan has had financial and operational problems, and air traffic control is expensive and hard no matter how it is structured. Will adding a slice for a private vendor's profit lower the cost?
The host and almost all guests push airline consolidation and alliances, instead of arguing for what works: anti-trust law and a level commercial playing field. They'd do well to study the work of an economist like Hubert Horan. There's no mystique to airlines: they are ruthless businesses, out to make money at any cost (which is what businesses do). In the end, the pro-monopoly perspective of the host and many guests fosters business inefficiency instead of innovation, and leads to higher rather than lower fares for consumers.
For a journalist, the host really could try for a little balance!
