4 ms·

Seems like this practice in general shows that a true free market doesn't exist in the airline industry. If it did exist then flights like these wouldn't be pro

Seems like this practice in general shows that a true free market doesn't exist in the airline industry. If it did exist then flights like these wouldn't be profitable to sell in the first place.

diziet 2y ago
I could imagine situations where airlines need to get pilots/crew/planes to some location for the next flight and somehow recoup costs there, and are willing to cut prices on such multileg flights to take business away from their competitors... but I generally agree with your statement.
- animal_spirits 2y ago
  Yep, it is not just travelers going to destinations that compete for chairs on an airplane but also workers of the airline too. The larger airlines have to balance these priorities
- jmward01 2y ago
  That doesn't explain why that would make the price cheaper to keep someone on the flight than letting them get off. It may be a meaningless difference, or even the same price, but cheaper to have the extra leg doesn't make sense if there is competition. That person has weight if nothing else and that costs money to haul.
qotgalaxy 2y ago
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o11c 2y ago
Reminds me of the famous Interstate Commerce Act of 1887.
akira2501 2y ago
We tried a free market airline industry. We rightfully second guessed that for the huge safety problems it created. We then recognized that the skies belong to the public, collectively, and access to it must be licensed as such and commercial activity within it strictly regulated. Which would all probably work were it not for the obvious pathway to regulatory capture this creates. You need strong regulators that are heavily incentivized towards the American public and not the particular private airlines that happen to currently have a contract. I wonder, if like banking, it would be smart to separate the companies that own the planes from the companies that actually operate them. A disinterested third party that actually holds the assets might serve as an actual wedge between the FAA and the "major airlines."
readthenotes1 2y ago
There are almost no industry without some regulatory restrictions on them.
hilux 2y ago
The airlines industry is heavily regulated, as most big-money industries are. "True free market" does not mean "complete absence of all regulations"!

Seems like this practice in general shows that a true free market doesn't exist in the airline industry. If it did exist then flights like these wouldn't be profitable to sell in the first place.

diziet 2y ago

I could imagine situations where airlines need to get pilots/crew/planes to some location for the next flight and somehow recoup costs there, and are willing to cut prices on such multileg flights to take business away from their competitors... but I generally agree with your statement.

animal_spirits 2y ago
Yep, it is not just travelers going to destinations that compete for chairs on an airplane but also workers of the airline too. The larger airlines have to balance these priorities
jmward01 2y ago
That doesn't explain why that would make the price cheaper to keep someone on the flight than letting them get off. It may be a meaningless difference, or even the same price, but cheaper to have the extra leg doesn't make sense if there is competition. That person has weight if nothing else and that costs money to haul.

qotgalaxy 2y ago

[dead]

o11c 2y ago

Reminds me of the famous Interstate Commerce Act of 1887.

akira2501 2y ago

We tried a free market airline industry. We rightfully second guessed that for the huge safety problems it created. We then recognized that the skies belong to the public, collectively, and access to it must be licensed as such and commercial activity within it strictly regulated. Which would all probably work were it not for the obvious pathway to regulatory capture this creates. You need strong regulators that are heavily incentivized towards the American public and not the particular private airlines that happen to currently have a contract. I wonder, if like banking, it would be smart to separate the companies that own the planes from the companies that actually operate them. A disinterested third party that actually holds the assets might serve as an actual wedge between the FAA and the "major airlines."

readthenotes1 2y ago

There are almost no industry without some regulatory restrictions on them.

hilux 2y ago

The airlines industry is heavily regulated, as most big-money industries are. "True free market" does not mean "complete absence of all regulations"!