Mars wrote...
re-regulation will NOT solve the (ills) cures of the airline industry
First, the only way there will be any meaningful reform in the domestic airline industry is through some catastrophic event possibly involving deaths or injuries. Otherwise I don't think there is the will, in Congress, to act.
The Air Transport Association needs to abandon its fantasy that the status quo can be sustained until such time (5 to 10 years, or more?) as a major overhaul of the air traffic control system is complete. Some of the nation's major airports, such as New York--LaGuardia and Atlanta, simply have too many flights crammed into time frames that are too short. The government needs to ration flights while insuring that all affected airlines bear the "pain" proportionately. Within such a reform mechinism the practice of gates being the "property" of a given airline would need to be abolished. Obviously the airlines would have to be compensated, through tax brakes or otherwise, for such a government "taking."
The public needs to understand, and accept, that meaningful airline reform will be a "back to the future" experience. $75 fares, from New York to Orlando, will be history and Greyhound will, once again, become the choice of those who can't afford the increased air fares. At a minimum, those who want to fly on the cheap would be relegated to using secondary airports and the inconvenience of extended ground transportation to and from.
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