Airline executives say they can no longer provide the cheaper fares that made air travel an attractive substitute for car trips. Even Southwest Airlines -- which has long used the marketing slogan
"You are now free to move about the country" -- has eliminated its self-imposed cap of charging no more than $299 for any one-way flight. Now it charges close to $400 each way on some routes.
In the three decades since deregulation, the nation's major airlines have operated with the simple strategy that bigger was better, and that the way to win the industry dogfight was to fly more planes
on more routes to attract the most passengers. But with fuel prices almost double the level of a year ago, many big airlines have decided that less is more, and they are shrinking in a hurry. And half
a dozen smaller carriers, some of which offered low fares, have gone out of business or filed for bankruptcy this year.
"The picture going forward for travelers is pretty grim," says Tim
Winship, an editor of SmarterTravel.com. "There are going to be fewer flights since ticket prices will be significantly higher. From a service and comfort standpoint, consumers won't be getting more
for their money. If anything, less."
advertisement
advertisement
Read the whole story at The New York Times »