Any other industry would raise prices in response to increasing costs. The airline industry is the only one that decides to quit rather than compete.
Any other industry (except maybe the MSM, I guess) would improve the product it offers before blaming everything and everybody else.
My question is, since the airline industry is made up of several different and supossedly independent companies: How is this not illegal collusion?
In keeping with the line of comments, ANY OTHER INDUSTRY woudl be facing massive antitrust suits for signaling each other on restricted output to increase profit margins. I still don't understand how the airlines get away what is an obvious attempt to establish a cartel.
ANY OTHER INDUSTRY would see the CEOs who approved this sort of garbage facing serious jail time.
Let's see how these are idiotic. Raise prices... or just charge $7 for a pillow and $20 for each bag? Isn't that another way of raising prices without charging more for the upfront fee? Hell, it's charging for what you actually use on the airplane: space and weight.
You pay for what you get. How would they improve the product without it costing more? Oh ya, you want your free food/beverage/admirals lounge and not pay for it too. Also, there is are costs associated with trying to keep a tight schedule (and miss a few flights) compared to keeping excess airplanes (and all the stuff that makes airplanes go) in stock sitting around.
Lastly, the CEO's aren't colluding. In the airline world, the profits so razor thin and consumer loyalty so lacking/useless that any cut by any airline is met with cuts at other airlines. You win when there is a price war, you lose when the market is saturated.
Right now, there is excess capacity that needs to be cut. Airline pilots are all looking at plan B. There are at least a few thousand ex-airline pilots on the street looking for jobs. I have seen requirements for jobs go from "do you have a commercial pilot's certificate" to "1000 hours of Multi-turbojet time required". If you are thinking that the airlines are adding jobs, you are woefully mistaken.
And the sad fact is that there are rumbles that a major airline is going to die. the NWA/DAL thing was simple survival in many ways and UAL/Continental was about saving their collective bacon...
