Airline Deregulation Act Case Study

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Before 1978, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), which is a federal agency in the United States, regulated what routes airlines could fly, the fares that airlines could charge for the flights, the schedules that the routes were flown and which foreign destination the U.S. airlines could fly into (Aeronautics aviation news & media, 2017). The airlines that the government allowed to fly were basically a monopoly, driving up prices and not having any competition. The Airline Deregulation Act changed that though. The Act prohibited the U.S. government from being able to control the airline fares, routes or flight schedules.
Since the Airline Deregulation Act has been effective, airlines have overseen the number of routes they want to fly, how much they charge per flight, and …show more content…

The Act has allowed more competitive prices within the airline industry so that fares are more affordable. “In 1996, a report revealed that, on average, airline fares per passenger mile were 9% lower than they had been in 1979” (Aeronautics aviation news & media, 2017). Without the Airline Deregulation Act, there would not be any smaller airlines and Southwest would not be where it is at today. The prices of airlines would also be higher than they are due to little competition. There would only be a small number of major airlines within the U.S., with a smaller amount being able to fly internationally. The Airline Deregulation Act has significantly changed the airline industry for the better when it stopped allowing the government have control over it.
Southwest Accidents
In the last 18 years, there has been a total of two accidents involving an aircraft operated by Southwest