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Letters to the editor

By Times Staff
Published April 29, 2007

US Airways needs to reverse course, column April 18

US Airways lacks real spirit

I continue to be frustrated and disappointed in my airline. I am a retired 31-year veteran who started my career with Piedmont Airlines in 1969. I was hooked on airplanes and aviation as a kid after my first airplane ride: a 22-hour odyssey to Guam on a DC-6 in 1955, and was blessed with a career I truly loved.

I have tried to be a loyal employee and customer to US Airways since my retirement. There should be no "merger-related" excuses accepted for these missteps, and heads should roll throughout the organization to hold people accountable.

Simply changing the colors on a plane doesn't make for good service or the public perception of a "new" US Airways. There are more than six different airline cultures embedded in this organization, so I wonder, and doubt, there can ever be a "real" US Airways spirit. Thank you for your straightforward commentary and analysis.

Tom Tellington, Tampa

Buy-in elite fliers dilute culture

In your column, the following excerpt deserves a followup: "... There's no evidence elite-level fliers are bailing out, says Travis Christ, vice president of sales and marketing. Elites flew 15 percent more in January and February than during the same months last year. But he's quick to add that everyone at headquarters is feeling the heat."

What your article did not pursue, nor did Mr. Christ offer, is the source of the 15 percent increase in Dividend Preferred fliers during the periods of January and February.

Also not mentioned were the numerous members that were offered Dividend membership for a price through targeted marketing, nor those who became Gold preferred members as the result of an IT-related issue. Also, his discussion did not mention those Chairman Preferred members who are able to nominate a friend or family member to Silver Preferred status.

While Mr. Christ's comments may be true, as experienced when I board my US Airways flight two to four times a week, I will contend that the new rash of Dividend Preferred members are not members of the true subculture of the maligned and oft misunderstood frequent flier.

Mark Messersmith, Apollo Beach, principal consultant, RABA Technologies

A boom for some, a squeeze for others, column April 23

Florida economy needs to diversify

Our region is undergoing painful, wrenching changes as a result of a boom and a squeeze. Our residents are encountering economic forces that are difficult to see and comprehend, but nonetheless are driving massive, unprecedented changes that Tampa Bay must understand and aggressively address.

As we all know, the Tampa Bay area's economy is based on real estate, tourism and surrounding services. The economic growth of these sectors is flat or down. Industries such as finance, technology, energy and pharmaceuticals are examples of industries producing unprecedented levels of wealth. Our state's leadership is rightly proud of our economic participation in these sectors and others. However, in the big scheme of things, the honest truth is that we are a leader in none of them - and generally not even close to being in the top 10 of any of the major growth industries.

Bottom line? One perspective is that Florida and Tampa Bay area residents are being painfully squeezed by escalating housing and taxes as those who are participating in booms outside our state move here. And we are just at the beginning.

It is time for leadership toward economic diversification that enables Florida residents who earn their primary income in our state to participate in meaningful ways in growth economies.

Kurt J. Long, St. Petersburg

CEO, EpicTide Inc.

Housing takes too big a bite now

I agree it's "boom or squeezed" depending on your situation. Fortunately, my mortgage is paid off, but I feel bad for my children who are renting, a result of overheated home prices, which are only now starting to cool. I'm advising them to wait a while. When I started to work in 1973, I made $7, 000 and rent was $125 per month in Miami, which computes to 21 percent spent on housing on an annual basis. My daughter, who started working a couple of years ago in this area, makes about $30, 000 and pays $1, 000 per month for apartment rent, which computes to a whopping 40 percent of her income. Things are definitely "squeezed" for many of her generation.

Bill Antozzi, Oldsmar

Those in between hurt the most

When you mention "those in between" I feel you are addressing a great proportion of the population. This is especially true in Florida, where such a large percentage of people are retirees. Many of us, including myself, are getting by pretty well on pension and Social Security income. Not living high on the hog, to say the least, but getting by.

All this depends on staying in relatively good health. While Medicare and medical insurance combined pay for most of the usual medical bills, long-term care is a financial disaster. Insurance for long-term care is financially out of the question. Even if you can get it, the coverage leaves a great deal to be desired. It is like sitting on a time bomb never knowing when it may blow up and completely change your way and quality of life.

The "Haves" say "you should have prepared better for old age." Ha ha. The real "Have-Nots" go on to government programs because they have little or nothing to lose. The "tweeners" are the ones sitting on the bomb.

Warren W. Carson, Sun City Center

Buried assets April 22

Pearlman should be extradited

Lou Pearlman defrauded investors of $500-million to feather his nest and then fled the country. This man has confiscated assets of investors and is using someone else's money to live a life of luxury. What gets me is how fast the little guy is arrested and put in jail for minor offenses and wrongdoing, while a crook like Pearlman, who bilked and defrauded investors out of hundreds of millions, seems somewhat legally untouchable.

The St. Petersburg Times recently did an article about the Pinellas County Jail being so overcrowded that a judge ordered the release of minor law breakers such as petty shoplifters, marijuana possessors, those who urinated in public, etc. The point is you don't see rich, white-collar criminals jailed so readily and even if they are, there is low probability of prosecution.

Why can't Pearlman be turned over to federal marshals and extradited to America?

Robert B. Fleming, St. Petersburg

Are gas prices too high?

Investigate the root of gas prices

What is the cost of a gallon to the local owner? How much tax is included in the price of a gallon of gas? Who supplies the gas stations? Are gas prices reflecting the war on terror or greedy station owners looking to make some real money? How much profit do they really make?

The latest spike in oil prices has sent gas soaring again, along with a cut in production as refineries change from the winter blend to summer. But how much of that is true? I think that this paper should go back to its roots and really investigate gas prices, not just report them. Help out the working person and go back to working for us.

David Johnston, Seminole

The lizard doesn't tell you your job matters, column Feb. 12

Reward college graduates

I don't understand why it is discriminatory to provide better rates to college graduates. A person usually goes to college to better his or her life, to earn a greater salary and to seek a better profession than is offered to high-school graduates. Most accept that it is okay for the college graduate to earn more money, but your article implies that it is not okay for them to be rewarded for their accomplishment by paying less for goods and services like insurance. This is analogous to implying that insurance companies shouldn't offer lower rates to graduates of driver's education because one could correlate driver training with those that have money.

I believe that, statistically, people who have the discipline to go to college and get passing grades might be better drivers.

Frank Liebenow, Treasure Island

Wal-Mart's 'Buy American' motto

We need to know our meat's origin

Wal-Mart doesn't think its customers want to know where the meat they buy comes from. They couldn't be more wrong. We have plenty of meat producers right here in Florida, and I would like to be assured that Wal-Mart's old motto of "Buy American" applies to the purchase of meat. By not labeling country of origin on meat packages, we have no idea where the meat comes from that ends up on our tables.

Let's all request country-of-origin labeling on meat. You might find out that the bargain on ground beef or pork isn't such a bargain when it results in so many lost American jobs, and perhaps the unknown safety record of other countries' meat producers.

Ellen Floriani, Tarpon Springs

Sales signal Toyota is in the passing lane April 25

The implications of Toyota's rise

(New York Times columnist) Thomas Friedman must be happy. He said that he is looking forward to the time when Toyota would bypass General Motors. I wonder how many understand the implications this Toyota surge in sales has on the U.S. manufacturing base. Toyota advertises that it is creating thousands of jobs but does not say how many jobs it is destroying for the American worker. Toyota can build and market here as they wish; however, American companies that want to market in Japan face multiple barriers, including the opposition of the government.

When I see non-American vehicles with the bumper sticker "United We Stand, " I ask myself, "united we stand" for what? Certainly not for American labor or the American economy. Where is our support for our people? As we lose our manufacturing base, and our ability to build and improve, we are becoming a service base, while other nations are buying up our companies and our currency steadily declines.

We are concerned about who the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby is, while the big ones are flying overhead. It's a sad state of affairs.

Fred Engelbrecht, Tarpon Springs

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[Last modified April 27, 2007, 22:08:43]