First off - condolences to those whose travels have been disrupted by the cancellations arising from the antics of the Icelandic Volcano Unpronounceable.
I'm just hearing a report in which it is stated that the airlines are losing US$250 million per day as a result of those cancellations.
In a former life, I worked for about a year as a bookkeeper for a small business, and I've retained just enough knowledge from that episode to realize that money doesn't just disappear - it must show up in the books SOMEWHERE.
What has happened (or will happen - I understand enough to realize that costs and losses are often deferred) to all of that money (now over a billion dollars by my reckoning)? If the airlines are losing, who's gaining?
I realize - especially since the so-called 'finance crisis' - that my idea of 'balanced books' is perhaps simplistic and / or out-modish. I'm also worried that it is more the latter than the former - and that a lot of wool or synthetic ersatz fabric is being pulled over a lot of eyes or other video receptors.
Chris Bruce, who still counts his pennies (at least the Euro equivalents) and balances the household books at least quarterly, in Kiel, Germany -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html