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> Safety has increased, of course. Come to think of it, security too. Hijackings weren't unusual news items in the 1970s; now, it's hard to remember the last o
by wolverine876 4y ago
> Safety has increased, of course.
Come to think of it, security too. Hijackings weren't unusual news items in the 1970s; now, it's hard to remember the last one. And that partly explains the slower airport experience today (which is really due to nobody investing in the resources to speed it up).
> It's popular to point to how much airline ticket prices have fallen since dregulation (under Democratic president Carter) in 1979, without also noting that 1979 was a local price peak driven by the Iranian oil embargo of the same year.
A lot of those narratives are similar if one takes even a cursory look at the facts. As an aside (and IIRC), per the autobiography of former Fed chair Alan Greenspan, who was not a Democrat (and was a follower of Ayn Rand) and served in various roles under many presidents including Carter, deregulation began under Carter.
- dredmorbius 4y agoYou're largely right. Early air travel externalised numerous costs, and those have been internalised. "Big Sky" air traffic policy was proved nonviable over the Grand Canyon (1956) and Park Slope (1960). Bombings and hijackings of the 1960s and 1970s lead to increased departure-gate screenings. Those increased further after 2001. Noise complaints lead to use of quieter high-bypass turbofan engines (with their own MAX failure modes). Increased fuel costs in the 1970s also prompted higher-efficiency engines (again, high-bypass turbofans serve this role), as well as curtailment or cancellation of planned commercial supersonic transports. Gordon also discusses similar apparent retrograde trends in automobiles. Here again I see formerly externalised costs (emissions, safety, handling, noise) being internalised and included in purchase costs. Electrification is a similar trend.