Deregulation of the Airlines

As an employee of a major air carrier I am amazed at the great and increasing number of travelers who seem either unaware or unimpressed with what experts say are the great benefits of deregulation in the airline business.

The things that seem to impress most folks traveling nowadays are: dirty airplanes (an obvious result of the cutthroat, cost-cutting competitive atmosphere brought to us by deregulation; poor food quality and actual short-fall of meals resulting many times in no meals for some passengers; flight delays are nearly the norm, not exception; in-flight service that is often seemingly rushed, uncaring and even sometimes untrained; more planes with more seats, lights and other non- or poorly operating equipment. Some more of the wonderful market results brought on by deregulation. But--tickets are cheaper!

Not too many years ago, this country had an air transportation system that was one of the wonders of the world. It generally worked--very well.

The primary focus of the pre-deregulation air transportation business was to provide a high level of quality, safety and service to the traveling public.

In those days, airline employees were highly respected and well-compensated for our abilities and training. We were proud of our jobs and our company. And our company was proud of us.

Now we find ourselves more often than not having to attempt to explain why the overall quality of service provided by our company is so poor. But--tickets are cheaper!

In those days, safety was a foregone conclusion. Everybody kind of took it for granted because flying was as safe as the minds and skill of highly trained and well-compensated people dedicated to achieving that goal could make it.

Now, when people find out that I’m an airline pilot they immediately ask about the incidents, near misses, equipment problems and safety of flying in general. But--tickets are cheaper.

Maybe it’s just nostalgia--or maybe those were really the good old days--and just maybe, as in so much of life, cheaper is not necessarily better.

E. RAY QUIGLEY

Irvine