Happy 40th Birthday, Airline Deregulation — Despite Complaints, You’re A Huge Success
Investor’s Business Daily cited CEI’s Senior Fellow Marc Scribner airline deregulation.
Americans often express mixed feelings about today’s airlines, with their missed schedules, small seats, extra charges, missing meals, and nearly nonexistent service. These are legitimate complaints, but in fact are really about individual airlines. Deregulation didn’t cause these problems; they’re management issues and failures.
The truth is, when it comes to the flying public, airline deregulation was a major win. Before deregulation, airlines charged those who flew a take-it-or-leave-it price for an airline ticket. Flying was outrageously expensive on some routes. You had no choice. Pay up, or drive. Or take a slow train. Or a bus.
So was airline deregulation a success? Marc Scribner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in a blog post, argues the answer is yes. The data are convincing.