10 ways monopoly airlines are actively trying to make your life miserable

[T_R_Oglodyte]

BTW, I remember paying 29.9¢ a gallon for gas. That's not going to happen again either.

Cheers

So do I!!!

And again that illustrates the point about how deregulation has been a huge benefit to the traveling public.

That 29.9¢ a gallon gas was the same time as I mentioned those $90 one way air fares between Minneapolis and St. Louis. Keep in mind that fuel is the largest operating cost for an airline.

That gas currently costs about 8x to 10x as much in absolute dollars as it did then. But flights between Minneapolis and St. Louis don't cost $700 to $1000 each way.

That's why people routinely travel by air these days for trips that 50 years ago were only done by car, if at all. Herb Kelleher, the President of Southwest Airlines, one time commented that he didn't see Southwest competition as other airlines; h is competition was the automobile. He was one of the first to really grasp that concept, which was only made possible by deregulation. People thought he was crazy.

 

[dominidude]

Regulation Vs. Deregulation is a stupid way to look at things.

Of course we need both.

The only question is how much of both.

This is what most people do not grasp:

Profits is what is left over after all expenses.

If a company is making insane profits, then they can afford to pass on some of those profits to their customers in the form of higher service without a corresponding increase in prices paid by the customer.

On the other hand, if companies are losing money and the service they provide society is needed, then perhaps a closer look is needed to see if the rules could be changed to benefit everyone.

Our government, with their checks and balances, is too slow to adapt to a changing environment, and therefore lots of people opt for less government regulation.


But make no mistake, regulation is needed, or otherwise you end up with monopolies, and high prices and low quality service.

 

[glmyers]

BTW, I remember paying 29.9¢ a gallon for gas. That's not going to happen again either.

Cheers

Gas was $0.31 a gallon in 1965, which is $2.35 in today's dollars. I paid $2.07 a gallon to fill my tank today...

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

But make no mistake, regulation is needed, or otherwise you end up with monopolies, and high prices and low quality service.

Correct. And the functions of the regulation should be to ensure that:

• we have capitalism and not mercantilism, monopoly, or oligopoly.
• consumers and buyers have access to the information that they need to make intelligent decisions (whether or not they actually use that information to make intelligent decisions should be of no concern)
• the information that is presented to is presented accurately and without deceit, fraud, and intent to deceive.

 

[dominidude]

Correct. And the functions of the regulation should be to ensure that:

• we have capitalism and not mercantilism, monopoly, or oligopoly.
• consumers and buyers have access to the information that they need to make intelligent decisions (whether or not they actually use that information to make intelligent decisions should be of no concern)
• the information that is presented to is presented accurately and without deceit, fraud, and intent to deceive.

Therefore, it seems regulation has failed when it come to airlines because we seem to have a monopoly or oligopoly.

The insane profits that airlines are making and the low level of service quality are proof of that.

 

[x3 skier]

The insane profits that airlines are making and the low level of service quality are proof of that.

The average after tax margin for airlines, 8.2%, is below the average of all industries, 10.1%. Not what I would call insane which might be the drug industry at around 23%.

http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/margin.html

The best profit margin is for the crummiest airline, Spirit at almost 12%.

Cheers

 

[dgf15215]

Coming back from Newport Beach Marriott timeshare last Thursday, minutes before leaving the Marriott I got an automated call announcing that my flight on USAir from John Wayne to Phoenix was canceled. Had to check out in any case, American/USAir finally booked me on a United Flight to Houston that turned out to be oversold and wouldn't accept our transfer tickets. Those United people were wonderful and finally shuttled us to SanFran where we caught a redeye home. That redeye was sold out, lucky to get on it. No, it's not like the good old days . . . but now I can really afford it.