WEBVTT - Secretary Pete Buttigieg Talks Infrastructure Bill Updates, Flight Delays, Inflation + More 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:05.240 Wait that ans up in the morning Breakfast club morning. 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:09.360 Everybody is DJ Envy Angela Ye, Charlemagne the guy we 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:12.119 are to breakfast Club. We got a special guest in 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:14.160 the building. Yes, indeed, the friends in the room. He's 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:16.239 been up here several times. Listen, I say it all 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:18.400 the time. He's the only person from the Democratic Party 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.720 who comes during the off season, when when it's not 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:23.360 an election year, even though it is an election year, 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:25.560 but when it's not an election year, Secretary Pete comes. 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:27.600 That's right, well, Secretary Pete, thank you for joining us 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.840 this morning. Thanks for having me on. How are you man? 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:32.920 Pretty good in New York? Absolutely too. I mean, this 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:34.720 is a really exciting time for the work we're doing. 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:37.400 So how do you like the position? You know, since 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:39.560 you started, how has it been for you? Stressful and 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:43.360 non stressful? All gray hair tell us about it? Definitely 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:45.400 more gray. I mean what I say is it's it's 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:47.520 the best time but also one of the toughest times 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:51.480 for transportation. It's the best time because we're making investments 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:54.800 that we haven't been able to do in my lifetime. 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:58.279 The funding that's in the infrastructure package, So there's in 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:00.960 my view, there's never been a better time to be 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:04.760 in charge of transportation policy, and there's not a better 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:06.959 job to have in the federal government. The other side 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.679 of the coin is we've actually been through more disruptions 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:13.240 to the transportation system in the last couple of years 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.200 than at any time, with the partial exception of nine 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.039 to eleven, than any time since World War Two. We've 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.319 had container shipping issues, We've had cancelations and delays in 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:25.760 our airports. We've had a number of disruptions everything from 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:30.200 trucking and supply chains to passenger travel. But we've been 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:33.920 working through those and the causes of those are mostly temporary. 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:35.640 Most of it have something to do with the pandemic. 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:39.600 So as we're tackling those issues, the investments that we're making, 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:41.800 the repairs that we're making, the improvements that we're making 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.720 to the transportation system, that's permanent. So the reasons that 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:49.240 the job has been demanding are I think less enduring 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:52.400 than the reasons to be really excited about about the work. 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:57.400 I love the job. It's definitely a complicated time for transportation. 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.600 It's been almost must be a sucky jobs, says all 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:01.360 must sucky job at this point, and the reason I 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:03.320 say that is right when you going off is that's 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.040 when everything started to happen, and things that you can't control, right, 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:08.639 Like you mentioned cargo, you can't control that. You can't 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:10.760 control what's going on in the world right now, and 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:13.519 it has to be so difficult to try to fix it. Yeah, 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:15.360 but that's part of what we sign up for when 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:17.560 we go into public policy, right. You want a job 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:19.200 like this so that you can tackle. You come in 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.519 with a list of things you wanted to do, and 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:23.239 then there's all the things to get thrown at you. 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.200 And that could be a labor issue in our rail system, 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:29.720 it could be a pandemic, It could be an extreme 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:32.200 weather event. It could be a terrorist attack. By definition, 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:34.280 you don't know. But part of the job is to 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:36.120 be ready for that and to help work through that. 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:37.840 You wind up dealing with a lot of things that 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:39.840 you don't control, and it turns out you can take 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:42.840 some of the things you do control and use those 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:45.880 tools to help. So you look at something like the 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:48.240 supply chain issue. Yeah, a lot of that global supply 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.680 chain imbalance is caused by factories shutting down in China 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.440 and then more ships making their way across the specific 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.480 than our ports are ready for. But it turns out 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:58.680 there are things we could do, working with the ports, 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.239 working with the companies, working with the tools we have 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:05.480 to not exactly fix everything overnight, but make it better. 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:08.320 Right now, there's less than ten ships I think, bearing 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:09.760 down on the West coast this time. A year ago 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:11.720 there there were about one hundred, and some of the 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.480 work we did helped with that. It's been almost a 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.720 year since the infrastruction law, that's right, Yeah, I signed 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:19.959 it in November. So what have the updates been? So 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.600 one year in, we've been standing up all of the 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.000 different programs that have created and starting to move the 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.440 money out, something like one hundred billion dollars already moving 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:33.640 in order to fix roads, fixed bridges, airports. We were 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.800 just in Orlando. We're improving the airport there. We're just 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.640 in Detroit. We announced a project there. We're putting one 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.560 hundred million in to help Detroit take I three seventy five, 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:46.040 which cuts right through it. They destroyed a couple of 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:49.600 neighborhoods when they built it, and it's just like a gash. 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.960 It just kind of slices those mostly black neighborhoods. Apart 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.040 from from downtown. We're gonna lift it up and turn 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.119 it into a boulevard and use it to reconnect the community. 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.960 We're doing a project in the Inland Empire Fontana, California, 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:05.320 part of the region that doesn't get as much attention 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:08.240 as La. You got kids who have to walk basically 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:12.360 on a highway. There's this road that has no gut 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:15.640 or no curve, no sidewalk, and in order to get 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:18.440 to high school, they're they're competing with cars and trucks, 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.040 and we're funding an improvement that's going to fix that. 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:25.560 We're doing the elimination of railroad crosses, literally hundreds and 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:28.760 hundreds of projects, so getting those under way who has 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.600 been the work of the last year. It's a five 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:32.960 year bill, so the bill, the presence sign has five 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:35.480 years of funding. We're just through year one and it's 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.560 really I mean, it's still the very beginning of a 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:39.360 lot of what we're working on, but we're starting to 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.400 see the results now. Secretary Pete, another issue always is 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:45.600 this right making sure that black owned businesses also have 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:47.960 access to getting some of those contracts to get these 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:49.640 where it done. So where are we with that? Because 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.600 I know that's something that's been needing improvement. Yeah, so 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:54.200 a lot of a lot of work to do here, 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:56.040 a lot of progress that we've made. The first part 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.720 is the contracts that we directly control out of the 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:02.680 depart in a transportation So we set a goal for 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:07.000 STB Small Disadvantaged Businesses of twenty percent. There's a more 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.200 ambitious goal than we've been able to set before, and 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:11.840 so far we're beating that goal. But I have to 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.520 say for every dollar that we contract out of the 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:19.200 department directly, there's about ten dollars that go out indirectly. 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:22.600 In other words, we fund a transit agency like the 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.920 MTA or a state department of transportation or a city 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:28.760 that's rebuilding a bridge or an airport, and then they 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.240 do the actual contracts. So we're working with them to 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.360 make sure that they are inviting more businesses to the 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.279 table that haven't had a seat before. Black owned businesses 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.200 have enormous potential right now to do all kinds of work, 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.719 not just if they're directly involved in construction and engineering, 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:48.960 but if you're involved in let's say accounting serving one 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:51.240 of the companies that is doing the construction right there's 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:54.360 opportunity there too. So we're actually in the middle right 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:58.039 now of the process of redoing the policy for dB 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.520 disadvantaged business enterprises where there's a history of discrimination and 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:05.000 we have legal authority to pay particular attention to creating 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:08.400 opportunity there. You can go online. I know the website 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.200 regulations dot gov probably does not sound like what a 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.200 lot of people are excited to check out on Monday morning, 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.039 but there is a chance right now through the end 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:17.560 of this month to weigh in. If you're involved with 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.160 a black owned business or any kind of MB your 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:25.520 dB and you've had an experience trouble getting certified, a 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:27.680 problem getting a seat at the table, or you have 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:31.080 a success story to share about how public work, maybe 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.400 being part of a construction project help you build your business. 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.760 Now is a great time to enter public comments about 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:41.080 your experience through Regulations dot gov on our DBE rule, 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.640 because that will be part of what we use to 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:46.599 make decisions about how to update the rule. Bottom line, 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.600 nobody has a better track record of creating jobs and 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:52.520 opportunity for people who have been left out in the past, 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:57.560 including women in construction, including black building trades workers, than 0:06:58.000 --> 0:06:59.960 businesses who are owned by people who've been left out. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.120 The past, and I'm really excited about what we can do. 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.000 But it's not going to happen on its own. That's 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.480 why we're putting a lot of effort and emphasis on it, 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.200 and I think we're gonna have a lot of results. 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.280 I just sat down with the National Association of Black 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:14.400 Women in construction. They have incredible success stories about how 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.640 they've created an opportunity, but also about what it's like 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.040 trying to get a seat at the table. Last week 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.880 I was in Philadelphia, we had at meeting. We have 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:26.360 a whole set of regional meetings that we're doing around 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:29.040 the country basically to make clear, make transparent what the 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:31.440 opportunities are actually going to look like. Because there's been 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.400 a pattern in the past where you kind of had 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.640 to already be in the business, already be connected, already 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:40.000 be doing business with unit's a government to feel like 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:41.920 you were in the know about what the next opportunity 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:43.440 was going to be. So we're trying to make that 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.880 more transparent. So I don't have any illusions about the 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.360 work ahead, but I think we're going to be really 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.440 proud of the opportunities that we create if we stay 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:54.920 very focused on it. Now, I saw you in Philly. 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:57.040 How do you do that though, because you know, the 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.640 conversation was about how do you diversify federal contract and 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:02.680 black and brown people, So how do you go about 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.640 doing it? So the first thing that we did just 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:06.360 when we were there was talking about some of the 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:09.600 challenges they face. So for example, access to capital. If 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:11.840 you're trying to get started or you haven't had these 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.320 kind of big business opportunities, just being able to get 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.320 capital funding or cash flow right, if you're a giant 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:20.400 multinational corporation and one of your vendors takes two, three 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:26.320 four months to pay, or now one of your customers, 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:29.400 then you can absorb that. If you're a small business 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:32.120 and a lot of these businesses starting out or businesses 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:34.360 that are just trying to break their way in, they 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:37.280 need prompt payment right, stuff like that. So we're talking 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.400 about those direct issues that can be on an obstacle, 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:42.520 but also we've got to have conversations with the prime 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:44.760 contractors that are bringing on a lot of these black 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:47.760 owned businesses as subs about how to be more inclusive 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:49.559 and how to get some of these subs to be 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:51.360 in a position where someday they can be the primes 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:54.199 we're talking to a lot of state leaders. I was 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:56.640 at convening Friday in Florida with all of the state 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:00.160 departments of transportation in their heads saying that you know, 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.640 we're counting on you to create more of these opportunities. 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:04.760 So there's a lot of different pieces of it, but 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:06.679 there's a lot of things that we're doing in parallel, 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:08.760 including this DV role that that that I was just 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:10.959 mentioning that we hope there's a lot of public input 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:15.160 on because then we can actually update the formal processes 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:18.400 around contracting, the way the directories are built, just even 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:21.520 the expectation of the requirement that you check to see 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:24.600 if there are any new minority owned businesses that could 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:26.000 be doing the work that you're about to open a 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.240 contract for before you before you sign the contract. I 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:30.400 was going to ask too, what you know, what the 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:34.120 what the airlines? I mean, it's been horrendous. It's been horrible. 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.800 People have been missing, you know, birthdays and weddings and 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:41.240 funerals and families and what are we going to do 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:43.840 to fix that. I've gotten better, though, yeah, I notice 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.599 has gotten bet Over was still bad, like you know, 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:51.160 and week and like she said, prices are high. So 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:52.800 what are we doing to fix that? Are they finding 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.440 me airlines? And right, so what do we do? Yeah, 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.120 so it did get better, but it was tough over 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:00.240 the summer. We got big holiday seasons come up that 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.840 are going to test whether these improvements are going to hold. 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.240 There's three sets of things we're doing. First, finds, so 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.959 airlines are required to do things like offer you a refund, 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:13.199 give you a refund if your flight gets canceled, and 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:15.079 a lot of the airlines that were slow to do that, 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:17.800 or they drag their feet, or they didn't do it 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:20.360 at all. So we're subjecting them to find because we 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.000 enforce that rule that that you got to get a refund. 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:26.720 That's part one. Part two though, is the rules themselves 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:28.880 need to be tougher, So we'll enforce the rules that 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.360 are on the books. But we need to raise the floor. 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.920 So that's another thing that we have in the process 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.120 right now. It takes a while, it's a it's a 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.199 very ponderous legal process. You got to go through a 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:42.160 lot of comment periods. But we've got that open right 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:45.839 now on things like raising the floor. How long of 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:48.120 a delay counts as a serious enough delay that the 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.280 airline's got to give you a refund, so we're on that. 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.240 And then the third part that has really helped is 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:58.839 actually much simpler than the rulemaking process. It's just transparency. 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:02.920 So we set up a website that makes clear which 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.760 airlines will do what when you get stuck with a delay, 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:08.920 For example, will they give you a voucher for a female? 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:11.560 Will they book you on another flight? Will they book 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:13.400 you on another flight even if it's only on another 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.599 airline that there's a free flight, things like that. And 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.560 I wrote a letter to the CEOs of the airlines said, look, 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:20.640 in a week or two, we're going to put this 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:23.360 website up, So now would be a good time to 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:25.400 fix your problem. Yeah, now it would be a good 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:27.920 time to up your game. And they did. We went 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.480 in two weeks from zero out of the top ten 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.319 airlines to nine out of the top ten airlines that 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.160 will offer you at least offer you food or hotel 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.640 or something like that. So, in addition to the enforcement side, 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:42.200 which is very powerful but takes a long time sometimes 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:44.959 to line up the pieces legally, we found that just 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.280 transparency and we're going to add other things to this. 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:49.400 You can check it out on our website transportation dot com. 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.680 It's a passenger dashboard, just to give you the information 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.959 so you can make a decision when you're thinking to 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.400 ask for Sometimes you don't know it exists. I know, 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:00.199 you know what I learned when my bags get delayed coming. Yeah, 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:02.520 if it takes more than twenty minutes, you get Miley's 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:04.559 credit there you go, right. So I always will go 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.559 and I'm like, okay, my bag to forty minutes to 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:08.640 come out, and I'll go right online and I get 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:10.599 it immediately, right, But you have to go in and 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:11.920 ask for it, right, yeah. Yeah, And you have to 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.400 know that and that that doesn't follow any of this protocol. 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:19.079 That's not given nothing back. So i'd invite you to 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:21.679 check the dashboard. I don't want to pick winners and 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:23.400 losers here, but it's really interesting. You know, we got 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:25.040 a little green check marks, a little red exes on 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:28.360 who does what and uh, look, some airlines have decided 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.000 we're going to offer less customer service and we're going 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:34.520 to be really cheap. And as long as everybody knows 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:36.960 that going into it, if you're empowered to make a decision, 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.200 that's fine. But what we can have happened is First 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:41.360 of all, we have to have a floor where I 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.440 don't care how cheap the ticket is. There are certain 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:45.440 things you can do to a passenger, like leave them 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:47.800 completely stuck and not offer them a refund. But also 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:49.960 as you're making those choices, we've got to make sure 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:51.480 it's transparent. We got to make sure it's clear, and 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.480 we have more work coming up on things like like 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:55.679 these fees, these little extra fees that aren't part of 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.120 the airfare, but you wind up paying for them, and 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:00.360 that's part of the cost to try ailing on a 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:02.319 certain airline. It's they got to be upfront about that. 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:06.920 What was causing these flight cancelations and delays. So yeah, 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:08.400 like a lot of things in our economy, part of 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.160 it had to do with staffing, hiring, being able to 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:12.240 find people. What's frustrating about that, I think for a 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:16.440 lot of us is we put billions of dollars into 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.040 saving the airline industry and one of the conditions was 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.439 you can't fire people if you're taking this federal money. Now, 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:26.760 they they lived up to that, but they let a 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:29.199 lot of people go into early retirement, including pilots that 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:31.079 are hard to replace. It takes a very long time 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.280 to qualify a pilot, both in general and then specifically 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.079 on any given type of aircraft. Right, So when the 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.120 demand came back, and we're glad it did, I mean, 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:40.480 it's a good thing. It's a good sign for our 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:42.520 economy that so many people want to fly, but it 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.280 came back faster than they were prepared for, and our 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:47.679 messages you've got to be We're glad that demand is back, 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:49.280 but you've got to be prepared to service and tickets 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:51.800 that you're selling. You're collecting money on this. Another thing 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.880 that we've talked about is scheduling, realistic scheduling. So if 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:56.480 you know that you don't aren't going to have the 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:59.679 staff on this route, don't schedule has many flights, and 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:01.599 we've been pushing them a lot on that, and I 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:03.920 think that's that's gotten better and that's one of the 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.959 reasons we aren't seeing the cancelation rate. So before, you know, 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:09.760 we were seeing three to four percent. That doesn't sound 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:11.520 a lot, but the difference between one or two percent 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.360 where we are now and four percent is the system 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:18.200 starting to break down because it just can't ever exactly 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:20.400 like you said, but the prices are so expensive now, 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.280 prices through the roof soces for the inflation. So how 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:25.200 do we come on bad inflation now? Because people are 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:29.600 not making much Now, I'm like, this is ridiculous. Well, 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.600 this gets to the bigger story, right, of all the 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:34.560 different things where prices are high, and part of it 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:36.960 is that the costs are higher. I get that. I mean, 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:40.160 obviously one of the biggest expenses for an airline is fueled, right, 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:42.960 But that's not enough to explain all of it. So 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.800 part of what's happening, same with gas itself. Right, You 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:48.600 look at the price of oil and the price we're 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:51.640 actually paying at the pump, and the spread between those 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:54.080 two things is higher than it used to be. And 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.760 so we also have to have a conversation about a 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:00.200 lot of corporate profits that are getting fatter on the 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:03.840 margin there. And that's that's a big part of what's 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:06.520 happening across the economy that we need to talk about 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:08.880 when it comes to inflation. Because we've got some friends 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:10.640 in Congress, for example, on the other side of the 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:15.440 aisle who love talking about inflation but refuse to offer 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:19.160 any solution. Can you still call those people friends? I'm 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.920 being polite. It's a lot of fascism in there right now? 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:27.000 Can you call those people friends? When the democracy look, 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:28.400 I think we need to call something what it is, 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:30.560 and when somebody is threatening democracy, we need to call 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.640 that out. I also think, I know that there are 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.440 a lot of people definitely in Congress, in the Republican 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:39.240 Party who are horrified by what's happened to their own 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:43.320 apart speak out because they're afraid, because they don't vote 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:46.360 like they are fraid. No, And so you know, my 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:48.760 job as a policymaker is to sit down and work 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.480 with them on anything where they're willing to do the 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.720 right thing, which they did. On infrastructure for example, we 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.400 had you know, a lot of Republican Senators and a 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:00.560 handful of Republican House members come over and vote with 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.600 Democrats and work with the president on it. And what 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:09.040 are the solutions to regulating these corporations pack is getting 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.080 fatter while everybody's paying more and not come at any Yeah. Well, 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:14.400 on something like energy, we had an idea. President put 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.360 forward an idea called use it or Lose it, which 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:18.560 is basically, if you're sitting on these permits at these 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.080 leases but you're not doing anything to produce energy, then 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.640 at a certain point you don't get to keep sitting 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.360 on it. That didn't go very far, largely because it 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:30.160 was blocked by the allies that the big oil companies 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:32.920 have in the House in the Senate. We've got to 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:36.720 have more again, more transparency about the practices of some 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:38.880 of these companies, and we got to keep working toward 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:43.120 a tax code that's fairer when it comes to these things. 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.480 But again, the people who will talk about inflation all 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.560 day don't necessarily back any of those things that would 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.120 make a difference. We think that the best thing we 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.720 can do for inflation is created breathing room for people. Right. 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:58.640 That's why we cared so much about cutting the cost 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:01.080 of prescription drugs. Thirty five dollar insulin. We could have 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:05.560 had that and student Loanda absolutely right. That creates some 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:10.520 breathing room when you're facing these higher prices on groceries, gas, 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:14.520 you name it, even for gas itself. Right. It's one 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.359 of the reasons why we're pushing to make electric vehicles cheaper. 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:19.240 I'm not saying everybody can go get an EV tomorrow, 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:22.080 but part of how we can give people alternatives is 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.920 to make sure everybody can afford an EV. Some of 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:26.760 the people who are beating us up over EV's being 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.720 too expensive. Voted no on a bill that would have 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:31.680 made them cheaper. That did make them cheaper. So we've 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:34.440 got to look at who actually has ideas and proposals 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:38.840 to create that breathing room because prices are going up here. 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:40.600 Prices are going up around the world. By the way, 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.080 It's not like this is a US thing. You know, 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:45.720 you go to England, Germany, I'm they're pushing ten percent 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:47.400 on their inflation. Now, there are a lot of sit 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.399 you know that many of the analysts the banks predict 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.320 that it's going to go down, but we're not comfortable 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:55.399 with that until it happens. It's why we're pushing to 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.200 create a little more space, a little more room, and 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:00.879 lower the everyday cost people are basing on everything from 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:04.359 healthcare to housing to transportation. I think that defaults. You 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.280 was saying that the parent that COVID might get really 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.000 bad coming up this winter. Are you guys preparing for 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:12.840 that too. Look, it's it's got this seasonal quality to it, right, 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:14.320 I mean, this is still where this is. I guess 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:16.800 our our third time now dealing dealing with it, and 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.760 so we don't know everything. We know that we're dramatically 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.879 better protected than we were before. So the level of 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:25.520 loss of life that used to come with the COVID 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.600 surge is different now with so many people being vaccinated 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.520 and hopefully boosted. It's it's definitely a time for people 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:33.920 to get that booster if they're eligible. But yes, we 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:36.119 got to prepare for that because you know, another thing 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.879