A (airline travel agent) Story Of Unbelievable Persistence
No commentsBy Saleem Rana
Dick and Jay sat on the ground outside the shed. The rain pelted down on them. They stared in disbelief at the lake of mud all around them. The Piper Cub slumped in the mud a few feet in front of them. Neither a wet bird nor muddy squirrel could be seen.
“It’s going to be like this for some time,” said Jay, gloomily, “according to the weather report.”
Dick feebly told the joke about the weatherman who left town because the weather didn’t agree with him–but neither of them laughed. The rain fell without remorse.
“Boy, boys, boys,” said a beautiful woman with auburn hair. She had a fresh complexion. She wore a wet, slightly muddy, mauve dress. She sat down between them, covering them with her pink umbrella.
Dick kissed his wife on the cheek. He reached down into the vanilla box for his sandwich. The box tumbled out of his hands and landed in a puddle. It floated.
“That’s it,” shouted Jay. He grabbed Dick’s elbow. “Don’t you see- that’s it!”
It only took a day to add the inflated pontoon boats to the Piper Cub. Now instead of wheels, it had floats. Now, instead of the muddy runway, they used the river.
But another calamity awaited: a lightning storm. A bolt of lightning struck the hut, shattering it.
Without an office, it was hard to run operations.
Dick, however, found a solution. He bought a chicken coop from the farmer down the road for $25.
“One last yard,” said Dick, talking to the old mare. The mare grunted as it dragged along the chicken coop.
After propping up the chicken coop, Dick began whitewashing it.
“There,” said Dick, slapping on the last coat.
He stepped back to join his wife, Doreen, and his partner, Jay. All of them admired the bright chicken coop. It proudly bore the blue legend “Wolverine Air Service.”
“Soon,” said Dick, “Millions will be flying their own planes. They’ll come to us and we’ll teach them.”
“And it only cost us $200 to get this Piper Cub,” added Jay.
“Airplanes will swarm the air, the way cars do the ground,” predicted Dick.
Just then a freckled-faced young man came up to them.
“Is this your school?” he asked, squinting at Dick.
“Have you come for lessons?” asked Dick.
“Darn right!”
“We’d love to teach you, but we don’t know how to fly!” confessed Dick.
A few days later, however, they found a flight instructor. Dick straightened out the sheaf of papers on his ramshackle desk as the last interviewee walked out of the shack. He looked over at Jay. “Well?” Jay nodded. “I like him.”
“Then we have a new flight instructor,” said Dick, smiling broadly.
The next day, Dick and the new flight instructor stood outside the chicken coop office.
“How are you going to pay me?” asked the flight instructor, a tall man with thick dark hair and brilliant blue eyes.
“Cash,” said Dick, unruffled.
“But you said a moment ago that you don’t have any money?”
“I don’t,” confirmed Dick, “but they do.”
The flight instructor turned around to follow Dick’s finger. He had to chuckle. On the edge of the field was Jay whooping in a group of three eager students, all trussed up in flight gear. They were wet to their thighs from wading across the river.
“They’ll be the first to graduate,” affirmed Bob, the new flight instructor.
This is the story of Richard M. DeVos and his high-school buddy, Jay Van Andel, who came home after the Second World War convinced that the aviation business would be the trend of the future.
The Success Principle
The only limits are those that you set up for yourself. Limited thoughts create limited people.
Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life
Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this
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Pilots Age 60 Where Is It Now
By Steven Rowland
Probably one of the most contentious issues of recent times in the aviation community is the proposed changes to the age 60 rule. As most of the readers will be aware, age 60 is a mandatory retirement age for pilots involved in the part 121 airline environment. Representations and pressure groups from both ends of the age spectrum have recently been engaged in open warfare to influence the change in legislation to their specific sides benefit.
In early 2005, the republican senator for Nevada introduced a bill, HR 65, which dealt with altering the retirement age for airline pilots from 60 to 65, so as to be inline with ICAO rules. The resolution was then referred to the House Committee on Transportation and infrastructure which was chaired by Rep. Don Young. Subsequently HR 65 was then referred to the Sub Committee on Aviation which falls under the jurisdiction of the Transportation committee. There was indeed no hearings ever conducted on HR 65 nor were any recommendations tendered to the House Committee on Transportation. Thats basically where the resolution remained all through 2006 until the 109th Congress adjourned in December.
Further to the above, a bill entitled S 65 was sponsored in the Senate which was then referred to the relevant committee for consideration. On the 19th July 2005, the committee met and convened a hearing to consider the issue. Representations from many pressure groups such as, FAA, Aerospace Medical Association, Airline Pilots Association, SWAPA, Allied Pilots Association, and Jetblue Airways Corporation were heard and evaluated by the committee members. On the 17th of November the committee ruled and acquiesced to support the change to mirror the ICAO regulations. Following the above procedure, the bill was released from committee and placed upon the Senate Legislative Calendar.
This is the point that many bills perish before even making it to the floor as the responsibility lays with the Senate Majority leader to determine which bills are addressed by the that session of the Senate. The Senate Majority Leader, Senator Frist never determined a date for the hearing of the bill and that is where the bill remained until perishing with the adjournment of the 109th Congress.
Whilst, both bills died a standalone death, they received a much needed boost by their incorporation as amendments into the Transportations Appropriations Bill, HR 5576. Generally, these money bills are voted and passed in the house before moving into the second phase of review in the Senate. While in review in Senate Sub Committee the S 65 changes where added to the appropriations bill.
However, due to the election the money bill was never voted upon and therefore ceased when the 109th congress adjourned in December 2006. Rather than pass these appropriations bills congress choose to pass a continuing resolution which allowed the federal government to fund their agencies until Feb 15th, 2007.
So as it stands, the amendments remain within the appropriations bill and must be addressed by the 110th Congress whether individually or rolled up into a single bill called an omnibus bill. As the balance of power in Congress has changed its unlikely that the Democrat led Senate would choose to keep any controversial amendments in the appropriations bill lest it cause the delay of federal funding for their agencies. Having said that, there is tremendous pressure from both sides of the age divide to influence the proceedings.
It’s difficult to argue with the plight of the lower end of the seniority list, having been restricted from the usual career progression by a number of factors including 911 and the vicious airline bankruptcies. Any change to the age 60 rule would surely delay their captain upgrades by at least 5 years and cost untold thousands in lost career earnings. The alternative side of the argument is that age 60 is discriminatory and that pilots may very well be medically capable of pursuing the left seat until age 65.
Irrespective of your viewpoint, it is imperative that ALPA brings all pilots, regardless of seniority, together on this issue. As surely a hotbed issue such as this will only be detrimental to any alliance that currently exists between the different pilot groups and airline management most definitely does not require another issue to play wedge politics with.
Steve Rowland is the administrator and web master of Student Loan Consolidation Center and aims to make it significantly easier for intending students to access higher education.
Steven is also the editor and webmaster of Free Articles a site specialising in providing guides and free articles.
IS THE TIME RIGHT - AIRCRAFT OWNERSHIP
By gennew05
In the hours and days immediately following the tragic attacks on America of 9/11, there was much speculation about the effects on the general aviation industry. While the events of September 11, 2001 have had a significant impact on the economy as a whole, sales of personal aircraft in Michigan have experienced a surprising boost. Certainly, the convenience of personal transportation has played a major role in this increase as airport lines and security have become more time consuming. The reduction of flights resulting from the airline cost-cutting have limited flexibility for the business person and affected the productivity of companies relying on commercial transportation.
These factors alone cant explain surge of people joining the flying community for more than just pleasure. Rebates, low and 0% interest rates, training allowances, and yes, even the IRS played a role in creating an environment that has introduced more people to the benefits of aircraft ownership and had an effect similar to that seen after the passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1995.
The IRS is here to help you? Well, believe it or not, a new tax law passed earlier this year represents a renewed attempt by our nations leaders to jumpstart the economic recovery. The bill applies to new airplanes acquired after September 10, 2001, and before September 11, 2004, and provides tax savings from economic stimulus provisions included in the Internal Revenue Code designed to encourage investment in capital assets. Visit your local airport and youre sure to see plenty of forty and fifty year old aircraft operating for both business and pleasure. Even prior to the new tax law, Congress recognized that capital investment is an important part of our economy, and therefore allowed a five year depreciation of these assets. To further encourage investments, they do not require the depreciation to be spread evenly over the five years, but through a concept know as double declining balance, greatly accelerate depreciation during the first two years of ownership. Now with the additional incentives of 30% bonus depreciation on new airplanes, tax deferral opportunities are greatly expanded.
So how might a business person benefit from these new changes? First of all, the impact of these depreciation changes greatly reduce net cash investment for the purchase of a new airplane. Specifically, an operator in the 40% tax bracket who can successfully write off his aircraft ownership expense may have no cash investment in the airplane during the first four years. Additionally, when properly structured, many taxpayers have an opportunity to convert personal use into business use. The Internal revenue code provides an optional method of taxing an individual for personal use of an aircraft which many times amounts to less than 10% of the actual deductions flowing from the investment. Consult your tax professional prior to purchasing your new airplane or ask your Aircraft Dealer for the name of an Aviation Tax Specialist to set up your purchasing entity.
And you say youre not a pilot? Local aircraft dealers like Suburban Aviation, Inc. in Lambertville, Michigan will actually teach you to fly your new airplane and even reimburse your expenses when you purchase a new Cessna airplane from them. Most of todays pilots learned to fly in a Cessna airplane and the majority of these pilots continue to experience the freedom and flexibility that flight offers in one of Cessnas many single engine models. For 75 years, Cessna has been the leader in general aviation aircraft providing a safe and reliable alternative to commercial airlines and the automobile.
So if your business can benefit from improved efficiency and tax savings, why not consider a company airplane? There are few tax saving opportunities as effective as fully depreciating an aircraft on a five year accelerated basis, and with todays interest rate environment, a well-structured transaction often results in little or no after tax cash flow holding costs during the early years of ownership. Of course, arriving at your meeting on time and with all your luggage can also be pretty convincing!
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