User 200328

What's Really Wrong With The Airline Industry - And Can It Be Fixed?

Oh, I think airlines figured that out a long time ago. One problem, if you raise prices and the competition does not, business is lost to your competitor and you leave the gate with more empty seats. You still have to buy the jet fuel and pay landing fees, even though that empty seat brought in no money!

I would also like to point out that "the airlines" are separate companies that have to compete against each other while having to comply with federal, state, and local laws. At the same time, they must pay a multitude of taxes and fees levied at them from the federal to the local level.

Bankruptcy laws further complicate the picture, allowing inefficient companies to continue. The normal laws of "free enterprise" don't work because poorly run companies continue to drain business away from more efficient companies.

So, grouping airlines together and pointing a finger at the entire industry for problems beyond their control is an overly simplistic view that is unfortunately held by most of the public.