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> The airline market is about as competitive as it gets. Citation needed: the American airline industry is a textbook example of regulatory capture and protect

> The airline market is about as competitive as it gets. Citation needed: the American airline industry is a textbook example of regulatory capture and protectionism [1-3]. The first reference has a nice chart which suggests that price gouging might be occurring; where else is all the extra profit coming from?. [1]: https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21721201-americans-are-treated-abysmally-their-airlines-they-should-look-europe-lessons-lack https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21721201-americans-ar... [2]: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-welch-united-competition-20170413-story.html http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-welch-united-comp... [3]: https://reason.com/archives/2017/07/13/flying-the-fairer-skies/ https://reason.com/archives/2017/07/13/flying-the-fairer-ski...

tptacek 9y ago
In the years since deregulation, airline fares have dropped by more than 50%.
- bovine3dom 9y ago
  Before deregulation, there was almost no competition. There is now some competition, and prices have fallen, which is a very good thing (putting aside the mispricing of carbon and other pollutants). The parent claimed that airlines were very competitive absolutely. I linked to three separate articles saying that that was not the case; European skies are far more competitive (although they still have a very long way to go, especially regarding how capacity at airports is allocated).
  - rayiner 9y ago
    Airlines are highly competitive because there are numerous competitors, the product is fungible, and prices are transparent. It’s not perfectly competitive, but nothing you pointed to suggests collusion or price fixing, as the OP suggested. > They want the Open Skies agreements between the United States and Persian Gulf governments thrown out and to deny Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways access to American cities because they're subsidized by their governments. But so are other U.S. airline partners, many of whom happened to also be government-owned. Such subsidies are unfortunate, but they're hardly a reason to rip up the very system that's pressuring governments around the world to reduce protectionist behaviors. Like that’s a problem?

tptacek 9y ago

In the years since deregulation, airline fares have dropped by more than 50%.

bovine3dom 9y ago
Before deregulation, there was almost no competition. There is now some competition, and prices have fallen, which is a very good thing (putting aside the mispricing of carbon and other pollutants). The parent claimed that airlines were very competitive absolutely. I linked to three separate articles saying that that was not the case; European skies are far more competitive (although they still have a very long way to go, especially regarding how capacity at airports is allocated).
- rayiner 9y ago
  Airlines are highly competitive because there are numerous competitors, the product is fungible, and prices are transparent. It’s not perfectly competitive, but nothing you pointed to suggests collusion or price fixing, as the OP suggested. > They want the Open Skies agreements between the United States and Persian Gulf governments thrown out and to deny Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways access to American cities because they're subsidized by their governments. But so are other U.S. airline partners, many of whom happened to also be government-owned. Such subsidies are unfortunate, but they're hardly a reason to rip up the very system that's pressuring governments around the world to reduce protectionist behaviors. Like that’s a problem?