Virgin Blue bills tax payer - it should be the other way around!

[munitalP]

VIRGIN Blue yesterday billed the taxpayer $500,000 in an angry response to losses caused by four days of airport chaos that affected all flights from Sydney.

Full story.. Virgin bills taxpayers $500k for chaos | NEWS.com.au

Does this open a can of worms where I can bill VB for my lost production from staff due to VB delays - where my staff sit around in airports etc?

Simple answer is I guess - Nah...

Shame on you VB



Mr!

 

[JohnK]

VIRGIN Blue yesterday billed the taxpayer $500,000 in an angry response to losses caused by four days of airport chaos that affected all flights from Sydney.

Has the taxpayer paid the invoice?

 

[NYCguy]

Has the taxpayer paid the invoice?

I know what I'd be telling them, and it's analogous to the suggestion that they take a long walk off a short pier.

 

[straitman]

Does this open a can of worms where I can bill VB for my lost production from staff due to VB delays - where my staff sit around in airports etc?

Simple answer is I guess - Nah...

Shame on you VB



Mr!

Makes you want to try though :!:

 

[Arthur Hodgson]

If they're that desperate, they should just go under.

Who needs such a poor quality "airline" anyway?

 

[straitman]

If they're that desperate, they should just go under.

Who needs such a poor quality "airline" anyway?

If they are helping to keep prices down then we all need them :!:

 

[oz_mark]

Smells like the type of publicity stunt the beared one would do when trying to make a point.

 

[SeaWolf]

I'm not sure this holds water, Air Services Australia is not 'the taxpayer', it's a private, profit making corporation that the Federal Government is the sole shareholder of.

I'd say it's a stunt by DJ, rather than a serious 'bill'. The intention is obviously to draw media attention to the costs and problems of the ATC system being understaffed.

 

[munitalP]

I'm not sure this holds water, Air Services Australia is not 'the taxpayer', it's a private, profit making corporation that the Federal Government is the sole shareholder of.

That makes it a state owned enterprise then, so if a loss occurs then it is a tax payers loss or am I simplifying it too much?


Mr!

:?:

 

[SeaWolf]

That makes it a state owned enterprise then, so if a loss occurs then it is a tax payers loss or am I simplifying it too much?

No, it would be the company's loss. For example, suppose XYZ Corporation posted a large loss, the shareholders in the company would not have to pay for the loss out of their own pockets. The value of the shares they own might well go down and if things got bad enough the company might go under and the shareholders would lose the money they had spent on the shares, but the shareholders would not be paying off the company's creditors on top of that. Flip it around, if the company makes a profit it doesn't go directly into the shareholders pockets. The value of the shares may go up, the company might decide to pay a dividend to shareholders if they've done especially well, but the profit is the company's, not the shareholders.