What is being overlooked here is the concept of trends..If businesses and private families deem it too expensive to fly they can stop doing it in droves and suddenly with devastating effect on the industry. Investors see low profits and shift their money somewhere else and overnight another American industry goes the way of the buffalo. As noted in Dr. Zhivago, one person stealing firewood is not a problem, but if millions start doing it, it will destroy a city.
More importantly, politicians don’t even pretend anymore to look at ways to cut government costs.. only look for ways to increase taxes... May a revolution engulf them!
These are all good points. But when you’re talking about an industry that is as heavily subsidized as the airlines, you have to include a lot of other considerations when you look at the impacts of taxes and fees on the customers.
How many choices to passengers have?
American Airlines just became the largest airline with the merger with U.S. Air. That surely cuts down on competition and market share pricing battles.
Ditto!!!!