首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
(1)Darkening economic clouds, oil at $114 a barrel, cut-throat competition and disappearing credit lines are confronting airline
(1)Darkening economic clouds, oil at $114 a barrel, cut-throat competition and disappearing credit lines are confronting airline
admin
2021-08-05
34
问题
(1)Darkening economic clouds, oil at $114 a barrel, cut-throat competition and disappearing credit lines are confronting airlines with their biggest crisis since the dark days after September 11th 2001. It is a measure of the panic sweeping the industry that Delta and Northwest said they would push ahead with their $3.6 billion merger to create the world’s biggest airline by traffic. Previously both firms had said that gaining agreement with their 11,000 unionized pilots over pay and conditions was an essential pre-condition to the deal. Yet even though Northwest’s pilots remain bitterly opposed, due mainly to unresolved seniority issues, the two airlines have decided to take the risk of a potentially long-drawn-out and fractious integration of their operations because they calculate that a merger is their best chance of survival as the industry’s woes deepen.
(2)In the past few weeks, four smaller airlines in America—Aloha, Skybus, ATA and Frontier—have filed for bankruptcy. Maxjet, an all business-class transatlantic airline, went bust in December; its rival Silverjet is desperately looking for a buyer. Oasis Hong Kong, a pioneer of low-cost long-haul services, abruptly collapsed on April 9th. Alitalia may experience a similar fate unless a takeover by Air France-KLM, sabotaged by unions and Italy’s newly elected Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, can be revived. Nothing links these airlines, which span every conceivable business model in aviation, other than their inability to cope with the brutal economics of the business, especially the near-doubling of fuel prices in the past 18 months.
(3)Delta and Northwest are not yet in such a hole, but having only recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection themselves, they know that time is not on their side. After a strong recovery by America’s airlines in the past few years, profitability has fallen fast this year. And balance sheets are still weak, even at the big network carriers. IATA, the international organization that represents the industry, observed last September that American carriers were "vulnerable to shocks"—and that was when oil was at $67 a barrel and the credit crunch had yet to bite. Adding to that vulnerability is the realization by America’s airlines that there is little, if any, fat left to trim if they stay as they are. The industry has reduced its workforce by 39%, cut wages by 30% and defaulted on pensions to the tune of $20 billion.
(4)To make matters still worse, as carriers elsewhere in the world ordered around 7,000 new, fuel-efficient aircraft in recent years, those fragile balance sheets meant that American airlines sat on their hands. Delta has 117 McDonnell Douglas MD-88s with an average age of 18 years; Northwest soldiers on with more than 90 DC-9s with an average age nudging 40 years. These planes are up to 40% thirstier man their more modern counterparts, a crippling burden given the price of fuel. They are also more difficult to maintain—as last week’s grounding of American Airlines’ similarly elderly MD-80s highlighted.
(5)Delta and Northwest have little scope to cut front-line staff or replace their ageing fleets any time soon— production lines at Boeing and Airbus are fully booked. But they think they can secure cost reductions of about $1 billion a year by centralizing their back-office operations and cutting management jobs. They also hope to boost revenue by combining route networks and strengthening their appeal to lucrative corporate customers.
(6)Other American network carriers are watching closely. A similar tie-up between United and Continental, the second- and fourth-biggest, is under discussion, and American, the largest carrier, waits menacingly on the sidelines. Northwest’s attempt to merge with Continental was blocked in 1998, but regulatory approval is more likely this time, given the lack of route overlap between Delta and Northwest. The prospect of a union-friendly Democrat in the White House next year is a further spur to getting deals done quickly.
(7)The assumption in the industry is that consolidation will result in stronger airlines. That is probably true, but difficulties remain. As long as the barriers to new entrants remain absurdly low, intense—even suicidal— competition will persist at home. On international routes, "open skies" liberalization is an opportunity, but the superior financial clout and modern planes of the big European network carriers, such as Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, are a threat. For hard-pressed airline managers with the urge to merge, relief is more likely to be fleeting than permanent.
As the author sees it, the future of the airline industry is _____.
选项
A、of bright prospects and opportunities
B、filled with opportunities as well as threats
C、full of unexpected difficulties
D、so complicated mat it is not predictable
答案
B
解析
最后一段提到,合并会产生更大的航空公司,但困难仍然存在,后面以具体事例说明航空业的发展,既有机遇也有挑战,故B为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/1TIK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Thenewborncanseethedifferencebetweenvariousshapesandpatternsfrombirth.Hepreferspatternsfordullorbrightsolid
Yoga,theancientpracticeofpostures,breathingandmeditation,isgainingalotofattentionfromthematerialworldthati
Whollyasidefromaestheticandmoralconsiderations,fashionisaneconomicabsurdity,andthereislittletobesaidinitsf
ThehistoryofindigenouseducationprovisionthroughoutAustralia’sremoteareasisrepletewithinstancesofneglect,infras
Wehadameetingandtalkedthematteroverfacetofaceforfearthattheremightbeanymisunderstanding.
Thisnormallytakesfromfivedaystooneweekforapersontoadapttoreversedroutineofsleepandwakefulness,sleepingduri
Thehealth-careeconomyisrepletewithunusualandevenuniqueeconomicrelationships.Oneoftheleastunderstanding【S1】______
Manyofthecompanieswithcommercialproductsareexperiencingtheunusualhard-timeofpioneers,includingproductionkinks,c
(1)Everyoneintoday’ssuperchargedworkplacesexperiencesstress.Yetexecutiveandprofessionalwomenconsistentlyexperience
Arapidmeansoflong-distancetransportationbecameanecessityfortheUnitedStatesassettlementspreadfartherwestward.F
随机试题
______是实现顾客满意的关键()
以下关于Cache的叙述中,正确的有()。
男性,18岁,因转移性右下腹痛12小时入院,诊断为“急性阑尾炎”,当晚行阑尾切除术,病理为坏疽性阑尾炎。自术后次晨起,患者表现为腹痛,烦躁不安,未解小便,体查,面色较苍白,皮肤湿冷,心率110/min,脉搏较弱,血压10.67/8kPa(80/60mmHg
患者,男性,23岁。高热,咳嗽、咳痰5天,咳铁锈色痰。呈急性面容,双颊绯红。叩诊肺部浊音,语颤增强,闻及支气管呼吸音。该患者最有可能感染的病原菌是
高血钾症最常见的临床表现是
患者,男,59岁,情绪激动后突然晕倒,经CT检查发现为脑出血,急诊行开颅手术,术后送入神经外科病房。患者神志不清,脏器功能紊乱,给予监护。对该患者采取的最佳护理方式是()
下列各因素中,影响经济订货量大小的因素有()。
___________技术的目的是让教师形成正确的教育观念,提高其参加教育科研的自觉性和主动性,从而自觉地实现角色的改变。
联系实际论述艺术家应具备的修养和能力。(浙江师大。2013年研;青岛大学2011年研;中国美院2006年研;南艺2003年研)
《巴黎竞赛画报》
最新回复
(
0
)