Mom, pop, little guys, and the $686 million man

In the eternal battle between the big guy and just plain folks, the little guys should win more often, considering how many allies he has out there fighting for him. Take for instance the Washington brouhaha brewing between business aviation and the airlines over new user fees to keep the FAA afloat. Business aviation is the little guy's pal, and has come out fighting for the rights of the retired dentist who only flies on Sunday: he shouldn't have to pay these new user fees. Well, now airlines are part of the protectorates, having decreed that they agree: the sports fliers should not have to pay any of the new fees, whether they're based on weight, distance, time in the air-traffic system or whatever. The old fuel tax should be enough for weekend wingers.

But Jim May, the head of the airlines in the US, says, a lot of the guys around who are flying their own planes around aren't really little guys, but are fat cats, using 'little guy' rhetoric to hide their nefarious ways. May brought the Air Transport Association's view of things to the International Aviation Club of Washington the other week, launching an attack: "the supposed 'little guy' in this tableau is none other than some of the biggest and most profitable companies in the world - companies like Exxon Mobil, Anheuser-Busch and IBM".

Exxon Mobil had just announced its profits and the retirement package it was giving Lee Raymond, its executive of 22 years, who, according to calculations, had earned some $686 million between 1993 and 2005, when he pulled down $144,573 a day pumping gas. "Helped by the good luck (for it) of rising fuel prices, Exxon Mobil earned $25 billion in 2004 and $36 billion in 2005. Contrasting those profits to what has gone on in the airline industry, as it has adjusted to new market realities, the irony is less than subtle…. When (Lee) Raymond retired at the end of 2005 as Exxon's chairman and CEO, he also gained continued access to the company's corporate jets - to go on top of hundreds of millions in compensation over the past few years. I have a hard time thinking of Lee Raymond as a 'little guy'," concluded May. Stay tuned for the Anheuser-Busch attack. Read the ATA leader's speech: http://www.airlines.org/news/d.aspx?nid=9865