I would argue airline competition focus on pricing is due to the marketing/purchasing methods presented to consumers when they go to buy a ticket. Expedia, Orbi

I would argue airline competition focus on pricing is due to the marketing/purchasing methods presented to consumers when they go to buy a ticket. Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, etc all show a big graph listing the prices of all flights taking place on the dates you want to travel. If you list a comparison of any product to consumers with little information about the varying products other than price, most consumers are going to make their purchasing decision based on price alone. Having said that, I'm not at all arguing that price isn't important in the airline industry. $200 is a big chunk of change for an airline ticket. However, consumers might be a little more flexible about price if they had a better idea of what other value they are getting on the trip.