European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 27, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday. November 27, 1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 17 Calls from Clinton Are better than nothing it was a very Nice thanksgiving ornament the Telephone Calls from the president of the United states to the head of american airlines arid to the head of the striking Union respectively. The president got them both to agree to submit their cases to binding arbitration. And then the trumpet sounded and the air planes sped off and the Public focuses on other crash Dall the head of american put it this Way to an in William Quiring reporter. Bill Clinton Isth elected Leader of the country. For any citizen or any company or any Union today no i won t do that to the president requires an awfully Good fact Crandall had an awfully Good reason for saying no to the president. Height even have said Tell you what chief. You give me Back the Money i m going Tobe paying in extra Gas tax i la turn it Over to the attendants and Well Fly now Robert c Randall is a Tough Hombre and it is hard to criticize the air line Industry for seeking the services of Tough executives. Crandall has gone so far As to say that he would never again buy another air plane. What he was saying in a profile published in the new York times a few months ago was that he can t see How the airlines can make Money. And no Industry that can t make Money can continue to exist unless it is taken Over by the govern ment. The classic relationship then becomes of course an employee group that knows that there is no Bottom to the pockets of the owner and accordingly the demands Are exorbitant and the waste inordinate. Air France spends 40 percent per Pas Senger mite More than British airways the difference Between them being that British airways was privatized under mar Garet Thatcher and needs now to make its own Way. If my arithmetic is Correct during the past 10 years the airlines made a profit in 1984, 1985, 1987,1988 and 1989 amount ing to $4.095 billion. But in the other five years in the dec Ade the airlines lost $11.227 billion. And last year s was the heaviest loss $4.028 Bil lion. That kind of pressure becomes quite simply unendurable and what Crandall was saying when he said he d never again buy another plane was to the effect that 10 years from now american airlines May be a company engaged in manufacturing microchips even As chock full p nuts is one of the few restaurant chains in which you can t get nuts. That is one alternative to swing into another business. A second alternative is to go the Way of the new airlines Southwest airlines being the flashy prototype. These Are the so called no frills carriers and their specially is to get an air plane to commute from one City to another Back and Forth no food spare treatment cheap fares. Such service is useful if your needs Are say to travel frequently Between Phoenix and san Francisco. If you live in Sioux City Iowa you will have awakened in recent Days to discover that the straitened condition of the air lines has left you without a single Jet plane flying out of the City. It s a real competitive disadvantage to us complains Sioux City s mayor understandably. The Cost of personnel to the airlines is 36 percent of of Weir entire Bill. The Sec Ond highest item is less than one half that 16 percent for fuel. Maintenance costs aircraft leasing food and interest come in respectively at 12 percent 11 percent 4 percent and 3 percent. Now when arbitration was first suggested to Crandall he said no giving As the reason for it that it is inevitably the habit of arbitrators to look at the claims of one party which Are a of the second party which Are a and come up after much deliberation with a finding of m. But Halfway Between what the attendants want and what american airlines wants has got to be closer to a than to a not equidistant because the Industry is ailing and something needs to be done about it. It is All very Well to receive a Call from the White House but the Cost of accept ing the suggestion is Likely to confront american with an insurmountable psycho logical Load. There is an in electability in the marketplace that does not respond to presidential Calls. It would be Nice if Clinton called every passenger on american air pownsizin6 called every passenger on american air lines to ask us please to contribute an extra $10 every time we Fly in order to pull a out of its Hole. But the passengers Are looking for cheaper ways to travel and As Long As they hold out something has to Cave. American can t Fly its routes spending less on fuel or on maintenance or on in Terest or on air plane leasing. Maybe it should give up food which would relieve the attendants of a Burden. But then everybody would Fly United. C Universal Prosa Syndicate it s the season to Start counting our blessings i let Norma Perkins Murray who runs a Home Day care Center in Aurora iii., write this column for the thanksgiving and i Don t know one another except As inti mate strangers Reader and writer. Today she is the Are excerpts from a letter she wrote to me that began i feel As if i know you when you quit your Job in 1988 to stay Home with your daughter Maria i coincidentally quit mine to stay Home with my Newborn daughter had been working in the business world for 18 years. I discovered i loved staying Home and my Hus band and i started a Day care Home to stay Home with Erin and her elder brother Heath. Erin totally changed my life and attitudes about most things for the better. From the Start Erin was Independent. She walked Early and talked Early but went to bed late August we took Erin on her first Vaca Tion. We went to the Boundary Waters Canoe area i Minnesota. We stayed in a wonderful Cabin canned fished and picked blueberries. She had the time of her life so far. Then the night before we were to leave she was throwing rocks in the Lake off the Dock and apparently fell in and drowned. I was taking a Shower at the time her brother was chopping Wood and her dad was Cook ing on the Grill in Plain View of her. When he did to see her for a while he assumed she came in the Cabin with me since it was getting danc and 3 when i came out of the Cabin we began the frantic search for a Little girl who has never been away from her parents Ever. They had boats with searchlights and dogs in the Woods. -. \ everyone kept saying not to worry that they would find her but i knew better. How could this happen to us we were the most overprotective parents know. She had her life jacket on every minute she was in the Canoe. We just did t think of everything. She was missed at 7 and they found her at 10, in 7 feet of water 10 feet off the end of the Dock. A Friend recommended Conley funeral Home. When we saw Erin for the first time she was tucked into a bed in a room with a nightlight. Bruce Conley said we could spend As much time with her As we wanted. We could Wash her could dress her in her special dress. Those were both the hardest and most painful things but the most wonderful meaningful things i had Ever done. The next Day was the children s program where they explained that Erin s body did t contain her spirit any More much like when a sea creature leaves its Shell. Then we went upstairs and let each of the children with their parents see her touch her and say goodbye. Be had her buried in the cemetery where i go jogging and can see her whenever i go. We let the Anna Quindlen children throw Flowers in and after some singing set some White balloons with Pink ribbons free. We looked up at the balloons going up toward the perfectly Blue sky with their Pink tails spinning and my Nephew said they look like and he was right the minister said Well it is the beginning of life.1 How Are we doing after two months of being ripped apart by conflicting emotions of Reading every thing written on near death experiences reincarnation Angels and life after death i have decided that Erin existed Here to change us for the better. I feel he presence around me occasionally and sometimes see her in dreams. Why am i telling you All this compared to some of the horrible things going on in the world today it s not the worst thing that could have happened. I know that our funeral service was not typical. Maybe i want you to Tell parents that something like this exists so they can make a Choice. It certainly helped me. But maybe i want to Point out How our culture avoids talking about death and dying and makes it some sort of medical failure something to be evaded at All costs when it could be a time of great Healing and Comfort. Perhaps i just want you to appreciate the fact that your daughter is alive or want everyone to know about Little Erin Rose Murray and her Short wonderful life 1" done Norma. I will count my blessings. And the rest of you count yours. C the be York
