Now some people do not see the harm in airlines like Delta and Northwest merging, but they really should. With these already big airlines becoming one, we have a lot of potential headaches in our future. We may no see them yet, but give it some time to settle in.
More bigger airlines = less airlines overall = less competition = higher prices
Yes now while I was not exactly a fan of ATA (we had some MAJOR issues in the past) I was very sad to hear it was no longer operational. One, it is an Indianapolis based business. Many of my neighbors lost their jobs, and our job market isn’t exactly great at the moment. Two yes, I thought the customer service staff was rude, and that some of their choices were very poorly planned, but at least they were competition. The were a little airline, but they gave flyer’s more options. More less expensive options. Regardless of my personal feelings (and yes I was very bitter…but not letting me rebook a flight they cancelled due to a restructure until my only option was to take a propeller plane to Chicago to connect to my flight made me a little cranky) their business, along with the other now defunct airlines kept prices lower. I am actually really hoping Frontier survives. I actually enjoyed flying with them, and if they can get back on track it will give me some hope.
As the little airlines go under, the big airlines get bigger through mergers and acquiring routes and business from the now defunct airlines. That leads to less airlines overall. If there are less airlines competing for business, they have less of a need to keep prices low. It is basic economics. I’m not even economically inclined, but even I can figure this out. Flying used to be so expensive that people could rarely afford it. I think we may be headed that way again. With gas prices on the rise, and less competition among the airlines, it is only a matter of time before flights are too expensive for the average traveler.
