Some of it is merely sniping between Parker and the Jetblue CEO, David Neeleman. JetBlue will start service from Charlotte to New York in July.

Parker said JetBlue has a bad record for on-time arrivals and Neeleman says the people of North Carolina have been overpaying for bad service.

That means nothing to the average person and, of course, Parker ignored the major beef that local flyers have: high fares.

The fares out of Charlotte Douglas remain among the highest in the country because U.S. Airways has a virtual monopoly in this market. It has been that way for years and continues to be a sore spot for many.

Anyone reading this knows someone, if not themselves, who has gone to Greensboro or Raleigh for a cheaper fare. To add insult to injury, you sometimes end up flying back to Charlotte and then on to your original destination for less money that you would pay to fly directly out of Charlotte. Ludicrous is the only word to describe that.

Chamber of Commerce and city officials would cite the fact that this is a hub for U.S. Airways and it’s important for this to be a hub for business travel. That argument may have carried some weight in the past, but know it comes across as an apologia for the airline.

No one wants to see U.S. Airways go under. The airline has been a good employer and still employs about 6,000 people here in Charlotte. It’s been a good community citizen here and a major economic force in this area.

But even if U.S. Airways gates were cut in half, others would come in to pick up the slack and air fares would certainly drop. We live in a major metropolitan area with many people who fly. The argument that less people would fly if U.S. Airways dominance were to be cut holds little water, if any. In fact, maybe more would fly (see Greensboro and Raleigh above).

Mr. Parker says U.S. Airways will compete aggressively for business. But his remarks seem more like whining than a man willing to compete. In practical terms, JetBlue will be little competition for U.S. Airways, but maybe fares will drop a bit. Mr. Parker talks of competition, but seems to have forgotten that competition is what makes capitalism.

It’s difficult to blame Mr. Parker for his airline’s virtual monopoly here and the fact he doesn’t want that to end. In fact, the real blame may lay with local leaders of the past who determined that all those gates would go to one airline. I realize there have been mergers of Piedmont, U.S. Air and now America West, but I am not entirely certain that local leaders were always looking out for the average flier. Certainly the local flying population has paid a big price because this is a “hub”.

In the end, fliers will make decisions based on price and service and obviously the service doesn’t vary all that much from airline to airline.

Tony Mecia of the Charlotte Observer reported this week that American and Delta, in response to JetBlue’s presence in Charlotte, has lowered fares to JFK in New York. Delta and American were charging $197 round trip for flights in mid July. U.S. Airways was charging $387. That last sentence was far more eloquent than I or Doug Parker could ever be.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

I said in my first blog (still getting used to that word) that I read almost entirely non-fiction. That is true, but my favorite book is a novel from the early 30’s and I would highly recommend it.

“Lost Horizon”, written by James Hilton, would not be listed among the first rank of 20th century novels. But it was very popular and was one of several of Hilton’s books to be made into a movie.

It’s the story of man’s eternal search for happiness and contentment.

A group of travelers in a hijacked plane ends up the beautiful, hidden valley of Shangri-La the middle of the Himalaya Mountains. It’s a place where people live in complete happiness and contentment (yes, it’s somewhat of a fantasy). The hero of the novel, Hugh Conway, has to leave the valley to help a friend, but tries immediately to return to a live much simpler than the one he lived in the outside world. The book is adventurous, heroic and thought provoking. I would also recommend two other James Hilton books: “Goodbye Mr. Chips” and “Random Harvest.’ They, too, were made into popular movies. They might be worth your time.