A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon one of those old "Airport" movies. In this one Dean Martin is the pilot, and an unhinged passenger brings a bomb on board. What struck me about the movie was how air travel has changed since then. Despite the mad bomber, flying back in 1970 was a pleasant experience. Passengers had room to move around the cabin, and they even got fed.
Today flying is a lot of things, but I wouldn't call it pleasant. Cabins are packed with passengers and there are no meals, except in business and first class. You also have to get to the airport two hours before a flight; pay to have your bag checked; then risk having your bag unloaded in Omaha when you're flying to Miami.
Deregulation has a lot to do with the change in air travel. It opened the skies to more carriers. That additional competition made fares cheaper, allowing more people to fly. The problem is airlines can't make money on $200 tickets. They make money when passengers pay double or triple that amount. Throw in gyrating fuel prices and you end up with a broken industry.
Most airline experts I talk to don't want to see a return to regulation, but they do want to see fewer carriers. Fewer carriers would certainly stabilize the industry, but it would also lead to higher fares. The obvious question is: Would passengers pay an additional $200 or more to fly?
I know I like cheap fares. Would I pay an additional $200 to fly somewhere? That depends on where I'm going and if I really need to get there. When gasoline prices spiked above $4.00 last summer I altered my driving habits some, but I didn't eliminate driving. Still, I would eliminate an unnecessary trip if I thought the airfare was too high.
Businesses like cheap fares too. I know a lot of corporate travelers who fly coach. When fares spike and companies need to tighten belts, they find ways to get work done without traveling. Technology has allowed for a combination of web conferencing and teleconferencing. So, higher airfares could lead to less business travel.
What do you think? If an industry shake-up leads to higher fares, would you pay them?
Comments
Ehh, I can't see charging higher fares working out. Even if someone was willing to pay more, why increase level of service when you can issue larger pay bonuses to executives instead?
The airline industry needs to continue its business model of filing for bankruptcy protection and receiving goverment bailout every few years, then issuing new executive pay bonuses and repeating the cycle. The financial industry finally caught on to this business model in the past two years as well. I think someone should write a book pitching this as the new strategy for success in corporate America. Call it the "fail big for the win" business model. Seriously, this seems to be a major cultural phenomenon worthy of recognition.
History has seen industries grow and die before, and although I see the airlines as a necessity to many things, I would not sacrifice my own finances to save someone else.
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unhinged passenger
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That has to be your best one. I like that one. Thanks, Diane.
If you could go half as many flights but with twice the leg room and twice the lean-back angle on chair, would you like that better? Think for a moment all the trips they sent you on, all the flights, all the meetings. Then think all the things you ever learned at meetings. How to build sand-castle? How to pick up sea-shell?
You got it
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