...And Here, Darn it, Are The Heartbreakers

It is both the most "fun," and most difficult task, facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those people or entities that did all they could to undermine the many successes the aerospace community has managed to accomplish.

Alas, 2007 saw more than its fair share of downers, aviation-wise. Sure, "stuff" happens... but a few folks, issues, or entities seemed to go out of their way to create problems for the world of aviation.

So... it is ANN's annual obligation to recognize a solid dozen of our Aero-Heartbreakers for 2007... in something of an informal order, starting from 12th to the 1st. Let us know what you think of our selections... whom YOU would have liked be included, or omitted, from such a list. In the meantime, we hope those who had something to do with this year's selections think a little more positively about the welfare of this industry, so that future lists become harder and harder to catalog. Be it ignorance, arrogance or just plain incompetence, these were the folks or topics that made our lot a whole lot more difficult and immeasurably injured the aviation world in the past year.

Shame on those issues, folks or topics that made our lot so much tougher in 2007...

From the Heartbreaker's List #2: Airline Industry Implosion

Even worse than the way the airline industry behaved over the course of 2007 is the way that it performed... ALL over the nation, the confidence in airline travel has ebbed to a point where people have more faith in the inherent honesty of Congress than they do in whether or not their airline flights are going to occur without problems.

The daily news is filled with daily tales of airline malfeasance, passenger revolts, flight delays and more excuses that a 2 year old caught with their hand in the cookie jar. It's particularly embarrassing to a nation that brought aviation and air commerce to the world and now seems content to let foreign carriers show them up in terms of performance, customer service and overall business performance. And finally, what the airlines can't do to lower the bar in terms of the customer experience, the TSA seems only too happy to assist with in terms of making air travel as thoroughly unpleasant as possible.

The good-news airline story has become the exception to the rule... which is that all airline news is bad-news. The only bright spot in this tragedy is that a number of business aviation models are starting to really hit their stride and have had the chance to prove themselves under conditions that have enhanced their ability to succeed.

The golden age of air travel is quite assuredly over... but the current dilemma leaves us with a mode of travel that has become truly a hassle... if not outright painful. For this industry to survive intact, serious changes need to come... and for the moment, they appear to be nowhere in sight.

FMI: You Tell Us... Is Airline Travel EVER Going To Improve?