By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – News around the Metroplex - records made, help for the unemployed, and a plea by community colleges. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
How's this for a milestone. In May, Southwest Airlines boarded more domestic travelers than any other airline. We're talking a discount carrier is number one in U.S. travel. Here's the ranking by the U.S Department of Transportation: Southwest carried 6.5 million passengers, Delta 6.3 and American 6.2. What surprised me was that domestic travel was down from last May. I could understand internationally, by not domestically. But in the true American fashion, a spokesperson for Southwest told the Dallas Morning News, "Market share is not a corporate goal of ours. Profitability is." It's the truth, but it still sounds cold. Their stock closed down yesterday and is down today.
In a less chilly tone, but still not warm, American Airlines has teamed up with a job placement center to help all the thousands of employees they laid off. Dallas will have the first office open at its headquarters in Fort Worth. Chicago and St. Louis will find the same assistance sometime soon. It's a great idea, but I'm sure a few ex-employees wish they had thought of it about two years ago.
I've spoken with a few of those ex-airline employees, and I'm told many plan on returning to school to learn new skills. This is holds true for other unemployed from other industries. And the Dallas County Community College District can attest to it. This week almost 9,000 more students than usual had registered for fall classes. Unfortunately, because of state budget cuts, the chancellor for the DCCCD is asking for a tax rate increase of 1.78 cents per $100 valuation. There should be no argument when you consider, back in 1984, over 73% of the district's funding came from the state, and now it's down to 36%. I'm sure the DCCCD wishes it were in the predicament to talk about profitability.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m.
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