Quote:
Originally Posted by jimworcs
US airlines since de-regulation have carefully crafted what amounts to the carve up of the airline market, through massive "fortress hubs", which create effective monopolies. They fight any effort to amend the deregulation legislation and against giving the states any power to enforce basic consumer rights against airlines. (They have a specific exemption from state enforcement). They are also exempt from anti-trust legislation.
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Jim you keep saying this but it is not true. I can see why you would say this since any time an airline has sought anti-trust immunity in the past several years (America West's "merger" with US Airways and the infamous Delta/Northwest "merger") it has been granted but they do have to go through the motions of the process and there is no "blanket waiver" in effect.
As for the states having no power this is why the enforcement arm of the DOT was created. It seems that under the new administration the DOT has been much more aggressive in doling out fines for gross infractions of the established rules and regulations. The FAA has also been much more on top of things in the past year. Even though those fines seem like a drop in the bucket it still goes against the bottom line and the airlines are still accountable to their stockholders. Too many of these fines and you'll probably start to see a few CEO's heads on a silver platter.