How much is $700 billion? Let’s put it in travel terms

by Christopher Elliott on September 24, 2008

What’s $700 billion?

It’s the projected cost of the federal bailout of the nation’s ailing financial system. But what is $700 in travel terms?

The U.S. travel industry generates $730 billion a year.

The hotel industry made $28 billion last year.

The car rental market? At least $18 billion, maybe more.

It will take $14.6 billion to run the Federal Aviation Administration next year.

It only costs $15 million to fund the Transportation Department’s Office of the General Counsel, which includes the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, the department that is supposed to protect the rights of air travelers.

The average salary of a flight attendant is $41,000 a year.

The troubled airline industry is expected to lose $6 billion worldwide in 2008.

All of which leaves me with one question: If we stopped traveling for a year, could we afford this bailout?

Print Friendly

Tagged as: bailout, travel

  • http://www.ffocus.org Bruce InCharlotte

    How about how much it would have cost to fix the ancient radar-based air control system.

  • http://www.ksqrd.com Kate Koziol

    Interesting comments Chris. Let’s hope travel continues because if it comes to a halt we’ll be in far worse shape than just bailing out a few companies.

  • Jaime

    Here’s my proposal: Instead of taking $700,000,000,000 from taxpayers, have the government give $700,000,000,000 to taxpayers for paying to run this blessed country all of these years. Instead of just giving it to low income people, give it pro-rata to people who have been paying taxes during the Bush administration. That will avoid giving anything to, for example, those wealthy individuals who find their way out of paying their fair share and will also avoid giving money to people who are just opting out of our economy because they can. The only caveat is that the money has to be spent or deposited with a bank that lends within 2 months. That will be an enormous boost to the economy, will make lots of money available for lending, and will avoid the inherent unfairness in how Bush’s last stimulus was conceived – give it mostly to people who pay no tax because that seems fair. His ideas seem all to be socialist recently. Can’t get rid of him soon enough.

  • http://www.ffocus.org Bruce InCharlotte

    jaime – you are an idiot.

    where do you expect this money is coming from? the last ‘stimulus’ was bi-partisan, meaning that it wasn’t just the republicans (i.e., bush) who voted for it. and it was an excellent way of transferring all that money straight to china, through the claws of walmart and target and sears, which is where people spent the money on chinese-made products.

    the $700 billion being considered as a bailout is not being simply handed to companies. we are getting something (worthless securities and overpriced equity in firms) in return.

  • jaime

    dear bruce,

    if you think we are getting something in return you are the idiot. and if you think it stops at 700b u are doubly so. and if you can’t be civil go play in the corner.

    who gives a rat’s ass if the last stimulus was bi? it was a ginormous waste of money… like just about everything the sitting idiot in washington has done.

Previous post:

Next post: