By Merrill Matthews
This year, more travelers are flying than ever before. At a time when groceries, gas, food and rent are expensive, a massive increase in airfares is the last thing anyone wants.
But that’s exactly what could happen to travelers if lawmakers impose new restrictions on prices, routes and even seat sizes.
Stronger regulation of airlines sounds tempting. But bureaucracy comes at a price: often in the form of higher prices, but also in the form of limited access and comfort.
Air travel used to be heavily regulated. Until the late 1970s, government officials set fares, routes and schedules for all interstate flights. Fares were astronomically high, the industry was inefficient and relatively few people flew.
Lawmakers decided something had to be done. Congress passed the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978. The law allowed airlines to determine their own routes and prices.
The change unleashed competition and allowed low-cost airlines to enter the market. Choices increased rapidly and prices fell. Adjusted for inflation, the cost of flights today is half what it was before Congress deregulated the industry.
Deregulation created more options. The number of cities connected by nonstop service and the number of airlines offering this service increased significantly.
Cheaper tickets and an explosion in the number of airline connections made flying affordable for millions of Americans. In 1977, a quarter of all Americans said they had flown in the past year. Today, that number is almost half. Almost 90 percent of all Americans have flown at least once in their lives.
Given these findings, why do politicians seem so eager to reinstate burdensome airline regulations? Especially considering that the government has a poor track record when it comes to public transit – namely Amtrak.
Amtrak is a government-subsidized public rail system that receives billions of dollars in taxpayer money. The government created the system because passenger rail was losing money. The Washington Times notes, “Despite all that money, there are still widespread complaints about train service. Signaling problems, mechanical breakdowns and computer failures are seen across the country.”
In Congress, lawmakers have proposed legislation that would pave the way for greater federal oversight of airline baggage policies, fees and seat sizes. A recent regulation from the Department of Transportation imposes complex restrictions on airline refund policies that may be difficult for even experienced travelers to understand.
Taken together, these changes would create an overly complex regulatory regime that would be expensive and time-consuming to comply with. Some airlines could be forced to raise fares or cancel unprofitable routes altogether.
Proposals to re-regulate airlines have nothing to do with passenger safety. The last fatal crash of a US airliner was 15 years ago.
There is certainly room for improvement in American air travel. A shortage of air traffic controllers contributes to frustrating flight delays and cancellations. Outdated facilities and infrastructure pose challenges in many parts of the country. But remember, these broken parts of the system are already largely under government control.
Subjecting airlines to onerous regulations will not make flying better. It will lead to higher costs, fewer connections, and more dissatisfied travelers. Don’t let Washington do to the airline industry what it did to rail.
Merrill Matthews is a fellow at the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, Texas. Follow him on X @MerrillMatthews. This article originally appeared in The Hill.
