Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Competition Wins For Competitors

"When economist Alfred Kahn, with the help of Sen. Ted Kennedy
(D-Mass.), brought about airline deregulation in 1978, many (myself
included) warned that after 40-odd years as a heavily regulated cartel,
the legacy airlines would have great difficulty adjusting to free
competition. And so they did. Most of the old names-Braniff, Eastern,
National, Northwest, Pan American, and TWA-went under, but commercial
aviation boomed, with competition producing lower fares that saved
passengers tens of billions of dollars per year. The few legacy carriers
that remain standing-American, Delta, United/Continental, and US
Airways-have all gone through bankruptcy proceedings.

"Yet air travel and the airline industry is far bigger today than in
1978, with 3.6 times as many annual passenger miles. That is due mainly
to the long-term decline in airfares brought about by deregulation.
Adjusted for inflation, the average domestic round-trip ticket cost $578
in 1979, compared with $322 in 2009 (and a bit higher last year). You
won't find those figures in Attention All Passengers."

http://reason.com/archives/2012/11/26/reregulation-fantasy/1

Well written, and says all that needs to be said about the reregulation
fantasy.

Who would trust more than absolutely necessary to federal ass clowns
anyway?

No comments:

Post a Comment