American Airlines had a busy day in Miami Florida today. They announced the re-opening of their flagship Admirals Club at Miami International Airport, then announced they were laying off 97 employees in January.

The re-opening of the Miami Flagship Lounge continues a tradition of comfort and strengthens American's premium product for First Class international customers traveling to Europe, Asia, Central and South America and Mexico City, as well as full-fare First Class transcontinental customers traveling on three-class aircraft. American also offers Flagship Lounges in four other locations: Chicago O'Hare International Airport, London Heathrow Airport, New York JFK Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

"We're focused on enhancing the travel experience for our valued customers, and the Flagship Lounge facility is an important element in this experience," said Kurt Stache, American's Vice President and General Sales Manager. "It is our pleasure to offer our eligible First Class and qualifying oneworld customers another oasis amid the hustle and bustle of major airport terminals by providing amenities for productivity, comfort and convenience."

In the same breath they announced Miami International Airport may be one of the few places where American Airlines is increasing its flight capacity. But, come Jan. 30, the company expects to lay off 97 employees there.

So for all the American Airlines passengers in Miami, you have a brand new club, you just wont have anyone to help you in there.

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Albert William asked:
While federal consolidation student loans are backed by official support no such support exists in case of the private student loan consolidation process. In case of such federal loans the Government takes the responsibility of repayment to the lender when the student is unable to pay for reasons beyond his or her control.  Of course the Government will get the amounts repaid by the student but only when they are in a position to do so.
Lenders are also more at peace with the federal loan consolidation process since they are assured of the repayments.  Ordinarily the banks are such lenders and they are assured about getting back the money they have invested. That is why the federal loan rates are normally lower than the private loan rates.
Private loan consolidation involves higher risks

As already stated the federal loan consolidation is one of the safest processes for both the lender and the borrowers. Since the lenders are assured of the repayment with the federal authorities being the guarantor they feel quite happy to grant lower rates of interests in such cases. 
Private student loan consolidation is a process that involves much higher risks for the lender.  There is no such official guarantor who will ensure repayment in case of failure by the borrower.  True the lender could always resort to the legal proceedings against the defaulters.  But the process will involve additional expenses over and above the money lost on account of default and the long hassles of fighting legal battles are often the headache that no lender will cherish. 

When student loan consolidation may not be permissible
There are certain cases where the student loan consolidation may not be permissible.  For example you may not be permitted to have the student loan consolidation with your spouse. You may not also be able to get the best student loan interest rates unless you opt for the student loan consolidation refinance
If you have already consolidated your student loans in the past with some private consolidator other than the US Department of Education it may not be permissible for you to have your loan consolidated all over again.
There are some relaxations in this regard though.  If you have acquired some new loans in the meantime then such consolidation will be allowed.  Student loan consolidation may also be permitted when you have multiple consolidations from various lenders.
Student loan consolidation repayment
Once you consolidate student loans, the first repayment shall be due within 30 days of such consolidation.  However the type of repayment you will make depends on your choice.  You can opt for the standard payments where the monthly premiums are fixed or graduated payments where they increase over the years.
Conversely you can opt for the income sensitive payments based upon your current annual income and changes in it.  Finally, you can opt for the extended payment for amount exceeding $30,000 and $50,000.  Such extended period shall be 25 and 30 years respectively. Good news for you is that most of the consolidators do not ask for fees, credit check and they do not penalize you for early repayment permitting you the best student loan consolidation.

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OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)
Policy Brief
December 2008
The US economy is going through an exceptionally difficult period after having been hit by converging adverse developments, some in reaction to previous excesses during the upswing, others more exogenous. A sharp downturn in the housing market, a financial crisis and temporarily high commodity prices have caused activity to slow sharply during 2008. This happened at a time when the external position was persistently weak and the fiscal stance had become unsustainable in the long term making for a difficult challenge to steer policy between competing objectives. Policymakers have taken actions to support growth and stabilise the financial system, while keeping a careful eye on inflation expectations. It is nonetheless likely that activity will get worse before it gets better. In addition to these short-term severe difficulties, adverse social trends need to be addressed, including incomplete access to health care, the topic of a special chapter in this Survey.
Health-care reform is needed. Despite health spending being much higher in the United States than in any other OECD country, the US populations health status does not compare favourably on key indicators, in part because many people do not have adequate financial access to medical care. Starting from the present situation, a plan likely to be successful would replace the health insurance tax exclusion with subsidies for individual purchase of insurance and reform the insurance market as needed. There appears to be wide interest for such reform and numerous packages along these lines have been proposed.
(Omitted here are discussions of the financial crisis and the economic outlook, monetary and fiscal policies, markets for housing finance, and financial sector regulation and supervision.)
* How well does the health system perform?
Notwithstanding very high health spending (about 15% of GDP) and the use of cutting-edge technology, the health status of the US population does not appear to fare well by international comparison.
A particular source of concern is the large number of people who lack adequate health insurance.
Making progress towards health insurance coverage for all Americans should be given a high priority on the policy agenda.
* What could be done to encourage more efficient healthcare purchasing decisions?
The existing health tax exclusion should be terminated.
The tax revenues resulting from the elimination of the tax exclusion would be available to subsidise the purchase of insurance by individuals in a way that is independent of the choice of health plan.
Policy makers should consider means testing these subsidies.
* What could be done to promote health insurance coverage?
At present, the individual health insurance market is not attractive, in part because adverse selection risks have led to high premiums compared to their actuarial value, and because administrative costs are high. These problems could be addressed by increasing the size of risk pools and reforming individual and small-group insurance markets by requiring community-rated and guaranteed-issue policies, thus disconnecting the payments from individual health risks.
This approach would have a greater impact on coverage if accompanied by a requirement to be insured, as otherwise healthy people may choose to be uninsured rather than to pay community-rated premiums, which are higher than experience-rated premiums for healthy people.
Some hospitals seem prone to high-cost procedures without additional benefit to patients, while others seem able to provide lower-cost care that proves to be effective. The authorities should consider ways to enhance the dissemination of information on the effectiveness and cost of treatments and procedures. Savings could also be made by reducing payments to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.
Currently, Medicare administrators are prohibited from harnessing competition or negotiating prices of medical equipment and supplies; instead, they must use fee schedules based on historical charges. On the basis of pilot programmes, it has been estimated that using a competitive bidding process instead of the fee schedules could reduce costs by 26% on average, based on strict criteria for product quality and security of suppliers, without significantly reducing access of beneficiaries to supplies. Generalisation of competitive bidding for medical equipment and supplies should not be delayed beyond the 18-month period stipulated in recent legislation.
Policy Brief:
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/60/54/41812368.pdf
Economic Survey of the United States 2008:
http://www.oecd.org/document/32/0,3343,en_2649_33733_41803296_1_1_1_1,00.

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