2021年经济学人 捷蓝廉价航空这次能成功吗？(1)

Business

商业

Low-cost airlines

廉价航空

Long-haul sally

长途旅行

More carriers try to go the distance with no frills

越来越多的航空公司致力于使旅途没有多余服务

Perhaps JetBlue believes that the sky is darkest before dawn.

或许捷蓝航空认为黎明前的天空是最黑暗的。

On August 11th America’s sixth-biggest airline, known for its no-frills domestic services, launched its first transatlantic flights, between New York and London.

8月11日，这家以提供廉价国内航空服务而闻名的美国第六大航空公司，首次开通了往返于纽约和伦敦之间的跨大西洋航班。

The timing¹ seems plucky².

选择这个时机似乎很大胆。

America has yet to follow European countries in lifting tough pandemic-era cross-border travel restrictions³.

美国还没有像欧洲国家一样取消疫情时期严格的跨境旅行限制。

Industry insiders think that long-haul travel will be the last sort to rebound⁴.

业内人士认为，长途旅行将是最后一种回升方式。

And low-cost intercontinental travel has historically been a tough business.

从历史上看，廉价洲际旅行一直是一项艰难的业务。

Can JetBlue crack it?

捷蓝航空能破解这个难题吗?

The flight path of failure can be tracked from Freddie Laker’s Skytrain in the 1970s, via People Express, Tower Air and Air Berlin, to the more recent hard landings for Denmark’s Primera Air in 2018 and Iceland’s WOW in 2019.

航空业的失败路线可以追溯到20世纪70年代弗雷迪·莱克的“轻轨”，中间历经美国人民捷运、宝塔航空和柏林航空，到更近期的2018年破产的丹麦派美拉航空，和2019年破产的冰岛沃奥航空。

Norwegian Air Shuttle, which had captured a third of the worldwide low-cost-long-haul market, gave up on it in January, a victim of reckless expansion as much as of covid-19.

曾占据世界廉价长途航空市场三分之一的挪威穿梭航空公司在今年1月放弃了这一市场，成为新冠疫情和盲目扩张的牺牲品。

Even survivors⁵ have little to shout about.

即便幸存下来也没什么可高兴的。

Malaysia’s AirAsia X has made an annual pre-tax profit only twice since it went public in 2013.

马来西亚的亚航X自2013年上市以来，只有两次实现了年度税前利润。

Budget airlines have transformed short-haul flying by running simple point-to-point operations that eschew⁶ the hassle of connecting passengers across a complex network.

廉价航空公司通过运行简单的点对点操作，避免了通过复杂网络连接乘客的麻烦，从而改变了短途飞行。

They keep aeroplanes in the air for longer each day than full-service rivals do, fly from less popular airports at ungodly hours when charges are lower, cram⁷ punters into minimal⁸ legroom, charge extra for every tiny comfort and keep labour costs down by employing fewer and cheaper staff.

与提供全方位服务的竞争对手相比，他们每天让飞机在空中飞行的时间更长，于凌晨从不太繁忙的机场出发（因为这种时候收费较低），把顾客塞进腿都伸不开的狭小空间里，每一个小小的让顾客感到舒适的服务都要收取额外费用，并通过雇佣更少和更便宜的员工来压低劳动力成本。

1 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

2 plucky   

adj.勇敢的

参考例句：

• The plucky schoolgirl amazed doctors by hanging on to life for nearly two months.这名勇敢的女生坚持不放弃生命近两个月的精神令医生感到震惊。
• This story featured a plucky heroine.这个故事描述了一个勇敢的女英雄。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

5 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

6 eschew   

v.避开，戒绝

参考例句：

• Eschew fattening foods if you want to lose weight.你如想减肥，就不要吃致肥的食物。
• Good kid should eschew bad company.好孩子应避免交坏朋友。

7 cram   

v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习

参考例句：

• There was such a cram in the church.教堂里拥挤得要命。
• The room's full,we can't cram any more people in.屋里满满的，再也挤不进去人了。

8 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。