Results for our Re-regulation Survey and the Fall Out!

I would like the old days of regulation. However, our government was more efficient then. I am afraid that with special interest groups, inefficiency, etc. it could never work. Also, with all the security we have to put up with (at no advantage!!) it would be a nightmare. We'll just have to bite the bullet and realize we are now flying Greyhound!!

by JK on Thursday, March 12, 2009

I believe in general degulations, except for safety standards. However, the airlines have not been doing well either in profits or customer service. I think if they returned to realizing there goal is excelent customer service they could be profitable again. If they continue as is they deserve to go out of business.

by David on Thursday, March 12, 2009

I think the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights at Flyersrights.org is worth implementing. This is not regulation as much as a simple set of rules to assure passengers are treated properly by airlines.

As far as regulation goes, I don't think it needs to be brought back. But I do think airports should be regulated so that no airline can own a majority of the gates in a given market. That would bring back competition to some airports currently dominated by a single airline. This is a simple rule that could be added the next time airlines ask for bailout money.

by leonard on Thursday, March 12, 2009

RE-REGULATION IS COMING! THIS TIME THE AIRLINES THEMSELVES WILL BE FORCED TO REQUEST IT. THEN THE PEOPLES INPUT WILL BE USED TO PROVIDE FAIR PRICING WITHOUT THE INSTABILITY THAT OCCURS DAILY. THAT IS,IF THE PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THEY HAVE THE POWER AND USE IT TO THEIR ADVANTAGE.

by ABJ on Thursday, March 12, 2009

Personally, I don't mind giving up a little comfort in exchange for the dirt- cheap airfares that exist today.

by BT on Thursday, March 12, 2009

Hi Guys, Love the site, love your service. However, your latest poll, on whether the airlines should be reregulated, presents us with a false choice. According to your survey, voters may opt to leave things just the way they are or opt to reregulate. The way the survey is prefaced, reregulation implies a return to higher fares under a regime in which the government mandates them. But it aint necessarily so, to quote the song: regulation need not involve setting prices. And I believe that the edge enjoyed by the status quo option (at the time that I voted) is predicated on a fear that prices would automatically jump with a return of regulation. It would be unfair of me to say that you show a certain travel industry bias in the way the survey was prefaced. But there must be some among your staff and friends who favor a return to regulation. If you talk to them, dollars to donuts they will have a complaint similar to mine. Never the less, keep up the good work!

by Gary on Thursday, March 12, 2009

What ever happened to Customer Service? The airlines keep charging for this and that and you do not get any better service. You might get a cheap flight but by the time you pay all the fees it isn't cheap anymoe.

by C on Thursday, March 12, 2009

I have seen air routes cut and new ones added as a result of deregulation. Overall, I think regulation for industries that affect the majority of people is a good idea. Look what happened when the energy industry was deregulated (Enron) or the recent lack of oversight in the financial markets. De facto utilities should be treated as such.

by LC on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

De-regulation worked fine for a while and then the "free" market forces took over. Now we are suffering from the dark side of what we enjoyed previously. Intelligent, reasonable people should be able to find a middle ground of flexible and realistic regulation that strikes a happy middle ground. Not all government means bad government. Pan-Am, here we come!

by Ed on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

It isn't necessary to reinstate airline regulation just to protect passenger rights and protection. These can be implemented by statutes or by agency rule as some are now.

by LM on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

De-regulation didn't drop airfares "quite a bit", as you stated. Airfares dropped tremendously in cost once the government got out of the business. They would drop even further if the taxes to support unprofitable routes to some smaller locations were eliminated. Please don't even suggest that government should get back into regulating the airlines.

by RS on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Re: regulating airlines... ...companies that do not work well go bankrupt. that is how it should be. deregulation created competition, and thus, lower prices. airlines like southwest figured out how to make money. the ones who go out of business brought it on themselves by failing to think outside of the box and conform to changing times.

by S on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Absolutely sick of all the airlines nickel-diming every thing to death. The service is no better, no more timely and they have taken the public for a ride. There mismanagement is not the publics responsibility. If you fly American Airlines, it cost 40 to take 2 suitcases. Of course, the airline knows that everyone needs clothes when they travel. It is ridiculous and then, they wonder why they are losing business. No matter how much the gas is, I'd rather drive wherever I am going than to give the airlines another dime!

by TS on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Re: deregulation vs. bill of rights. Why is this an either/or question? I believe a deregulated industry is essential for the free market to function correctly. Why do I need to give up my "rights" for this? Let the market decide the price and who goes out of business. Survival of the fittest.

by MH on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

On your question of re-regulation for better service: I think the poll question is too black-or-white. If by "re-regulation", you mean a return to the 70s, I don't think people want that. I don't. But I do want MORE regulation that gets rid of the worst service abuses like overbooking (what other industry or business has the right to sell a service that the business reserves the right not to provide?). The current system is a race to the bottom where the lack of any consequential regulation protecting passengers skews the environment so heavily in favor of the airlines that they can get away with the most abominable service abuses.

by PL on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I don't think we need regulation per say, but I do think that there should be some consumer laws about ticketing and refunds. Frankly, the whole industry should operate like SWA. I am so sick of the airlines stealing money from people just becuase their plans got changed/cancelled!

by SB on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

You asked for feedback about deregulation... I traveled for a living 10 years ago. At the time, I could arrive at the airport 60-90 minutes before my flight, be served by a human being, get a seat in the more-legroom row, get a sometimes edible meal (OK, generally they would give me a ham & cheese sandwich when I specifically requested Kosher, but it was a meal and when they screwed up, I would get 1,000 airmiles as compensation), watch a movie... it wasn't the restaurant-in-the-air treatment of the 50s, but now? Remember to pack a Nalgene bottle in carryone to refill at a fountain rather than buy at the airport or on the plane. Arrive two hours beforehand. Stand in line to check in with a computer. Say no to the "would you like to sacrifice your youngest for a seat with more legroom?" question the computer asks. Stand in another line for the one human being working there to deal with the fact that my reservation can't be found. Stand in another line for the one human being working there to get the luggage tag. Hope all the security patdowns don't smush the sandwiches I brought to eat on the plane. Hope the much lower-paid and less experienced pilot knows enough to get us from A to B without crashing at C. If regulation brings standardization and government oversight, scrutinization of safety and customer service standards, heck YEAH I'd pay more! Those are two to 12 hours of my life I can't get back, I'd rather be comfortable in them!

by Jess on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Deregulation and free enterprise is a good thing. However I think strict standards/definitions need to be set around "On Time" Departure/Arrivals based on what the "customer FEELS" not when the wheels hit the tarmac or a plain pushes away from a gate. There needs to be a "standard" cancellations/delay policy. As well as baggage and other fees (no hidden costs). There should be a metric on how long it takes to receive baggage.. These statistics should not be Average's but should be available per-flight route, airport and etc.. If the FAA and Airlines stated measuring things "As the customer feels it" and stopped trying to put "lipstick on the pig" They'd realize who's really doing poorly or not and where and make corrections, which will regain the confidence of the traveler. The Airlines should know you couldn't hide "true performance" we travelers "Feel" it and react.. Their lack of flyers is a effect to their inability or unwillingness to identify and correct the problems. BTW: most of these kind of problems could be corrected at little to no cost, simplify by being honest and open in their communications.. No one likes being lied to and we do have a choice, and if it's not by choosing another carrier, then we will choose not to fly!

by JH on Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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Results for our Re-regulation Survey and the Fall Out!

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