The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978
The airline industry has been heavily regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) since 1938. Airlines had to request approval from the CAB to establish and modify routes, set fares, or change schedules (Siddiqui). All that regulation was no longer there after Congress approved the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The consequence of the legislation was seen right away, competition increased, airfare prices were more affordable, and passenger demand increased. (Smith, 2020).
After deregulating the industry, airlines were able to expand the business. Southwest was limited to fly within Texas, after the deregulation, the airline expanded their business to different states and today they fly to international destinations. Nowadays, airlines have the freedom to adjust as the market changes.
Do you imagine how catastrophic it would have been if airlines had to request changes to their schedules to the FAA during the COVID-19 pandemic?
References:
Siddiqui, A. (n.d.). Deregulation and its consequences. https://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Commercial_Aviation/Dereg/Tran8.htm
Smith, F. L. (2020, June 16). Airline deregulation. https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/AirlineDeregulation.html
You question really makes me glad that things have changed and that changes to schedules did not need to be approved. I can't or don't want to think what would have happened with the time involved with the change requests. r, Prof W
ReplyDelete