1. Over the last decade, fares have gone down on some routes (those with lots of competition), but have also gone up on those that have lost competition due to consolidation. This is especially evident in domestic US and Canada fares which are protected from foreign competition. Domestic fares in Canada have stabilized or gone up as WS and AC have settled in a duopoly where they do not undercut each other.

2. Volume continues to grow and this gives airlines the scale to fly larger aircraft with lower costs per seat.

3. Newer aircraft types are cheaper to operate even without increases in volume.

4. Most legacy carriers have gone through bankruptcy and been able to shed a lot of debt and trim pension obligations.