In a curious illustration of how current events make strange bedfellows, the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) has joined Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and NBAA to fight what they perceive to be causes of record-high oil prices. The two associations are members of the newly formed Stop Oil Speculation Now (S.O.S. Now) campaign, which includes airlines, trucking companies and travel associations. S.O.S. Now is urging consumers to write their legislators and ask them to do something about financial speculation in oil futures markets.
“We believe that the fastest way to get oil prices under control in the short term,” said ATA president and CEO James May, “is by reducing reckless and unfair speculation in the futures markets, while at the same time enacting measures for the mid- and long term to expand oil supplies, enhance efforts to advance alternative and renewable energy sources and improve energy conservation across the board.”
There is no consensus that financial speculation is responsible for high oil prices; demand for oil seems to be a significant culprit, and airlines’ low prices have kept consumer demand for airline travel relatively high. During the first quarter of this year, however, while passenger enplanements climbed by 0.8 percent, the number of flights that departed dropped by 1.9 percent, probably reflecting capacity cuts by some airlines struggling with high fuel prices.
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