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American Morning

Forecast for Airline Industry Continues to be Cloudy

Aired January 16, 2002 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The forecast for the airline industry continues to be cloudy at best. Airplanes are being taken out of service so quickly that besides takeoffs and landings, pilots are having to brush up on long-term parking for the airplanes.

Miles O'Brien explains what that means now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Final approach for a well- traveled 747, and I mean final.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

O'BRIEN: This is Mojave Airport in California's high desert where raining (ph) is scarce and land is plentiful, the perfect sun city for the senior citizens of the airline industry. Some are here on extended vacation, but for most, this is the end of the line. They may have flown in, but they will be wheeled out in a dumpster on their way to a less lofty mission as say beer cans. Is this plane heaven?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you could probably say it, because I've seen a lot of really neat airplanes get crushed out here. That is kind of sad for pilots. The general population out here could care less probably.

O'BRIEN: Mike Potter couldn't care more. He is a retired airline captain who now specializes in aviation geriatrics. Sure he recycles a lot, but he also finds respectable retirement work for old birds as sets on the silver screen. But of late he has many more planes than roles. What you're talking about is September 11th had dramatic effects on this business, didn't it?

MARK POTTER: Unbelievable effect, had to park airplanes in a hurry, so they picked all the ones that were going to go in the next two years, and they parked them, and like overnight. So where we only had 25 airplanes here, now we have 240 airplanes or more.

O'BRIEN: The airlines would prefer we wouldn't tell you this story. The image of idle airplanes sitting amid the tumbleweeds isn't exactly what they'd like to project to the flying public or to Wall Street for that matter. But this fleet of grounded airplanes is too big to hide, and it is growing. Cathy Hanson sits on the Mojave Airport Board of Directors. Like many here, she has ambivalent about those idle airliners. On the one hand, it means her airport is thriving, but on the other hand ...

CATHY HANSON, MOJAVE AIRPORT BOARD OF DIRECTORS: It makes me sad for the airline industry because they're losing money, and I don't like to see any industry lose money.

O'BRIEN: This place is all about the backside of a fragile business, but like so many things these days, it now seems more vulnerable than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope that, you know, I would wish that all these airplanes would go back in the air, but I just don't think that's going to happen.

O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN, Mojave, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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