Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 06.25.08 | 12:19 PM ET
David Ignatius says yes. “We speak of the airline industry as a market failure, but in a deeper sense, it’s a political failure,” he writes in the Washington Post. “The next time you’re stressing in an airport, ask yourself why government doesn’t start helping to fix this mess.”
Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor of World Hum.
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Grizzly Bear Mom 06.25.08 | 2:37 PM ET
I work for the government. Are you sure that asking non experts into an industry to regulate it is the answer? It appears to me that raising prices will fix a lot of the problems mentioned such as 1. covering the price of gas which is not 40% of the price of a ticket compared to 15% of a ticket a short time ago, 2. decreasing passengers will lesson the amount of flights needed and queues on the runway as delays, as well as eliminate the surcharges for checking baggage and bringing oversized bags on board. If airtravel reverts to the the moderate luxury it used to be better behaving people will be flying, staffs will be less stressed, etc. The American public is getting exactly what it is willing to pay for.
Love 2 See New Things 06.25.08 | 5:01 PM ET
Blaming the goverment is a complex question and answer—since we should ask what the government is doing about rising gas prices, but not placing direct blame for rising plane costs. This is not the first time the U.S. has met a spike & shortage in gas, therefore, the ultimate question should be what has the government done since to make sure we don’t repeat history. Why not encourage fuel alternatives? So, what little fuel we have can be given to industries—like the airlines.
Does Grizzly Bear Mom believe we should revert back to the days of ‘Robber Barons” where ONLY the rich may due as they please? What would that say about our society as a whole? There is already a deepening divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. As well as a growing emphasis that the middle class is being phased out. Again, what will this say about our society? De-evolution!
Dee 07.05.08 | 8:15 PM ET
If by the “government”, that includes the FAA, then yes…A large part of the “sorry state” of air travel can be laid at their door. Along with the high cost of jet fuel,(which, let’s face it..the government can do something about) is the added charges per ticket, the FAA charges a tax, why??, for what??. Every time a plane is stuck on the runway, it’s more than likely due to FAA regulations (not the airline). Higher prices for air travel will in the long run only serve to cause the average traveller to find other ways to travel. The airline industry in the US has not kept pace. They are still trying in 2008, to run a system that has not been updated since the 1980’s.