A flew quite a bit (including overseas) prior to the airlines being deregulated.
The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing U.S. Federal Government control over such things as fares, routes and market entry of new airlines, introducing a free market in the commercial airline industry and leading to a great increase in the number of flights, a decrease in fares, and an increase in the number of passengers and miles flown.
I remember how expensive flights were; and how few choices we had.
Regulation always removes choice and raises costs (it’s an economics-thing). Now this:
Consumers have benefited for decades from the presence of Open Skies agreements that lessen government interference in the market for international air travel. Now, a coalition of the big three U.S. airlines—Delta Airlines, American Airlines, and United Airlines—along with labor unions, are hoping to ride the wave of economic nationalism and roll back these bilateral agreements, opening markets to foreign competition under the guise of “fairness.”
Deregulation of the U.S. airline industry has led to lower prices and greater choice in routes and service. The Open Skies agreements provided a means to achieve similar results in the international market by encouraging other governments to do the same. These agreements mean that U.S. airlines can fly at will to treaty countries, and vice versa. They have also made it very profitable for domestic airlines to partner with Emirates Airline flying to the United States.
That’s proven good for consumers, who have more choices for international travel than ever before, and at better prices, but it isn’t appreciated by certain legacy carriers facing increased competition, writes Veronique De Rugy.