The Alaska Permanant Fund Dividend amount announced today

by Catherine Bodry on

Today is Dividend Day! Well, it’s the first of what’s to become many Dividend Days: today we learned just how much the State of Alaska is going to pay each of its residents profits from interest on oil revenues.

And that amount is… $1281. A flight to Asia. A used car. A wood stove. A credit card payment.

So what is the PFD and how does it work?

Basically, 25% of profit from oil and mineral revenue is invested, and the interest on those investments is averaged over five years and divided between the number of residents who applied and were approved for a payout. Because there’s a five-year average, we haven’t felt the recession as much as you’d expect; last year’s payment was $1305 (though the year before that was a record-breaking $2069).

Before you pack up your van and move to Alaska for that yearly check, there are a couple things to consider. First, you have to be a resident for a full year, meaning that if you arrive on January 2, 2010, you aren’t eligible for that year’s dividend. You’ll need to apply for 2011’s, which means you won’t see any money until October 2012. Second, it’s extremely expensive to live here. Though receiving over $1000 for doing nothing seems ridiculous, consider that we pay more for generic-brand groceries than you do for a similar product at Whole Foods. Gas costs well over $3.50 a gallon, and that’s just in the bigger cities. Move out to the villages and you’re paying well over $5.

Still, the check is a nice little bonus that makes living up here through tough winters a bit more bearable.

[Photo credit: Flickr user yomaninmus]

Airlines peak in 2010, could cost you next year

by Tom Johansmeyer on

All those extra fees may have helped the airlines out last quarter but don’t expect these “good times” to last forever. According to the International Air Transport Association, airline profits are expected to peak at $8.9 billion this year and will be followed by a decline. Pressure on demand and investments in new planes will be among the reasons for this turn. Next year, IATA forecasts an aggregate profit of $5.3 billion.

According to Bloomberg:

“The economic environment is still extremely risky and uncertain going forward,” Brian Pearce, IATA’s chief economist, said today. “In Europe, we’ve seen the markets are getting very worried about government debt in some countries. And we don’t really know what impact the austerity budgets will have.”

With 1,400 new aircraft to be delivered next year, carrier capacity is expected to grow by 6 percent, staying ahead of a 5 percent increase in “demand and depressing load factors, a measure of seat occupancy, which will in turn will keep yields or prices ‘flat,'” according to IATA.In 2010, seating increased 7 percent, with traffic up 11 percent. Disciplined operations helped lead to the filling of 78 percent of seats through the end of July. With the increase in capacity relative to demand next year, the 2010 successes are unlikely to be revisited.

Even though 2010 was a relatively strong year for the airline sector, the perceived successes come in part from a depressed baseline:

Global sales will climb to $560 billion in 2010, $15 billion more than previously forecast but less than the $564 billion achieved in 2008, IATA said. The forecast profit is also $4 billion lower than the figure for the pre-slump year of 2007.

So, what does all this mean for you?

Airline woes tend to become passenger woes pretty quickly, as anyone who’s paid to check a bag has learned the hard way. They’ll be looking for ways to protect their margins, so you should probably keep an eye on your wallet.

[photo by UggBoy via Flickr]

Airline extra fees: $2 billion in three months

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Airline fees are definitely not going away anytime soon – not after the second quarter it gave the airline industry. Carriers in the United States raked in $2.1 billion in fees and extra charges in the second quarter of this year, a 13 percent year-over-year surge. And, it was good enough to deliver the sector’s first profitable quarter since 2007.

Well, here’s the worst part for you: most of it came from checked baggage fees. This annoyance was good for $893 million in the second quarter of 2010, a gain of 16 percent from the second quarter of 2009. Reservation fees were good for $594 million, with ancillary revenue (e.g., frequent flier mileage sales and pet fees) reaching $618 million.

Delta benefited most from the fees that passengers hate most, at $682 million. American Airlines and US Airways were next.

[photo by cliff1066 via Flickr]

Recession’s been done for a year: start traveling!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The recession’s over … haven’t you heard? So, why aren’t you traveling yet?

The National Bureau of Economic Research put the end of the recession at June 2009, though it obviously took the group a long time to come to this conclusion. So, if they average vacationer wasn’t able to figure it out as quickly as a group of econ nerds, forgiveness is easy. After all, most people (including me) measure recessions based on our own households – and much less from a macro perspective.

Now that the recession is officially more than a year in the past, it’s time to book those tickets!

[photo by herval via Flickr]

March on Washington with Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert

by McLean Robbins on

Miss the Glenn Beck / Sarah Palin rally in DC a few weeks back? Here’s your chance to march on Washington – with a significantly more fun crowd. Last week, Jon Stewart began spreading the word that he planned to hold the “Rally to Restore Sanity” in Washington, D.C. on October 30th with “all reasonable people welcome.”

“Think of our event as Woodstock, but with the nudity and drugs replaced by respectful disagreement; the Million Man March, only a lot smaller, and a bit less of a sausage fest; or the Gathering of the Juggalos, but instead of throwing our feces at Tila Tequila, we’ll be actively *not* throwing our feces at Tila Tequila,” said Stewart.

“Join us in the shadow of the Washington Monument. And bring your indoor voice. Or don’t. If you’d rather stay home, go to work, or drive your kids to soccer practice… Actually, please come anyway. Ask the sitter if she can stay a few extra hours, just this once. We’ll make it worth your while.”

“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” will be in Washington, DC to broadcast “When Grizzlies Attack: The Daily Show Midterm Teapartyganza,” a week of shows as part of its ongoing “Indecision 2010” coverage of the fiercely contested midterm elections. The special episodes will feature news and analysis on heated races across the country from host Jon Stewart as well as reports from “The Daily Show” News Team.

Never one to be outdone, comedian Stephen Colbert announced that he will also be in the city on October 30 to host an opposition rally, aptly titled the “March to Keep Fear Alive.”

“America, the Greatest Country God ever gave Man, was built on three bedrock principles: Freedom. Liberty. And Fear – that someone might take our Freedom and Liberty. But now, there are dark, optimistic forces trying to take away our Fear – forces with salt and pepper hair and way more Emmys than they need,” said Colbert.

“They want to replace our Fear with reason. But never forget – “Reason” is just one letter away from “Treason.” Coincidence? Reasonable people would say it is, but America can’t afford to take that chance.”

In preparation, Gadling will be posting away in the next few weeks with new content about this hotbed of political activism, including guides to the best places to visit, sleep, dine, and of course, get your fill of blue coats and red power ties.