Originally Posted by
BearX220
We should have thought of that before allowing the government we put in power to approve a disastrous series of airline mergers that concentrate too much pricing power in the hands of too few companies. The mess we have now is not "because of 9/11," it's because of a Department of Justice and Congress that are bought-and-paid-for corporatist tools.
There were plenty of FTers who cheered DL-NW, UA-CO, etc. because they were excited about "bigger networks" and "more options for consumers," and the other rote lies spewed by CEOs during the approval-campaign process. Those FTers have been real quiet lately. Wonder why.
+1. I agree it's the oligopoly, not 9/11.
Little startup airlines won't really help at this point...the world actually has quite a few of those running around. Only real thing that would help (IMHO) is if five to ten of the world's larger currently un-allied airlines created a fourth alliance that was at least capable of nibbling at Skyteam's heels. I'm not sure who those airlines would be, considering that many of the un-allied ones left are staunchly non-alliance as a business strategy in their home region. And while such an alliance could probably piece together a passable TATL network, I'm less certain about TPAC.
Basically, you're lucky if you have all three alliances competing as roughly equals in your home market. Most people have two of the three functioning as a price-setting duopoly. Or one of the three, hosing everyone in sight.