A Proposal to Untangle America's Air Travel

Publication Date: August 1987

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): James L. Gattuso

Research Area: Transportation

Keywords: Smart growth

Type: Report

Abstract:

Air travel delays pose a serious and growing problem, deriving primarily from a combination of factors--the surge in demand made possible by deregulation coupled with the absence of market incentives in key parts of the system. Since bureaucratic control is art of the air travel problem, more control is no answer. Consumers have gained tremendously from deregulation over the last nine years, and these gains should not be sacrificed. Similarly, laws mandating particular standards of service threaten to hurt, rather than help, consumers by raising the cost of air travel.