notes it started primarily for the wealthy, but because of technological advances aviation spread to the masses. In fact, Perkins compares flying to skiing, which was once an upper-class pursuit but has trickled down to virtually all classes.
Therefore, any discussion of the U.S. airline industry is cleaved by the watershed year of 1978, the way American history hinges on historic dates such as 1775, 1865, or 1945. Because in 1978 the airline business for the first time became just thatâa business. And nothing has been the same since.
Starting in 1937, the Civil Aeronautics Board had treated interstate commercial airlines as a utility and determined which carriers operated on which routes, and on which days and at what times. The CAB also decided how much airlines could charge for fares, and ensured they received a return on investment. Interestingly, carriers that operated within the borders of a single state were free from regulation, such as Pacific Southwest Airlines in California and Southwest Airlines in Texas.
The process was cumbersome, and old-timers joke that Washington bureaucrats threw darts at a board to determine the fares between Cleveland and Minneapolis. Airlines that wanted to expand their route maps were subject to interminable red tape and could wait years for responses. There was an air of gentility about the airlines, and most U.S. carriers were restricted to domestic routes while Pan Amâand to a lesser extent TWA and Easternâflew the American flag overseas.
Then President Gerald Ford, followed by President Jimmy Carter, expressed support for deregulating commercial aviation, and the movement came to be seen as a precursor of deregulation in other industries, such as telecommunications and trucking. The man chosen to usher in the future was Dr. Alfred Kahn of Cornell University, who had written The Economics of Deregulation , the seminal work on the topic. Kahn was tapped by Carter to head up the CABâand then dismantle it.
Perhaps one anecdote sums it up. When PBS broadcast an examination of airline deregulation in 2002, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen Breyer was among those interviewed, because back in the 1970s he was chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. In that role he worked closely with Senator Ted Kennedy in shaping the Airline Deregulation Act, which was signed into law on October 24, 1978. On PBS, Breyer recalled how Lamar Mews, then the president of Southwest Airlines, attended a hearing and said: âThe people who put those chicken coops on the tops of their car and drive across Texas donât do that anymore. They and their chicken coops can come right on my airplane.â Breyer noted they certainly did, and he told PBS, âNo one says itâs fun, flying in an airplane filled with chicken coops. But nonetheless, if people want to pay the low prices for that kind of service, they should have the opportunity to do it. Thatâs what had to happen in Texas, and now the object of the hearings was to ask why shouldnât that be true everywhere?â
Today, of course, it has become true everywhere, and the cabins of regional jets are jam-packed with chicken coops to prove this. I reached out to Justice Breyer to see if he has further thoughts on the effects of deregulation, but word came back that his views have not changed. In fact, most of those who fought for deregulation still support the principle, if not all the results.
Upon Kahnâs death in December 2010, the Wall Street Journal ran this headline: âStuck in an Airport? Blame Alfred Kahn (1917â2010).â Although he died just as I began researching this book, I contacted several people who worked closely with Kahn on deregulation: Michael Levine, Severin Borenstein, Diana Moss, and of course, Justice Breyer. They all maintain Kahn was an uncommon man, exceedingly bright and generous. But opinions vary slightly on how he viewed the aftereffects
Therefore, any discussion of the U.S. airline industry is cleaved by the watershed year of 1978, the way American history hinges on historic dates such as 1775, 1865, or 1945. Because in 1978 the airline business for the first time became just thatâa business. And nothing has been the same since.
Starting in 1937, the Civil Aeronautics Board had treated interstate commercial airlines as a utility and determined which carriers operated on which routes, and on which days and at what times. The CAB also decided how much airlines could charge for fares, and ensured they received a return on investment. Interestingly, carriers that operated within the borders of a single state were free from regulation, such as Pacific Southwest Airlines in California and Southwest Airlines in Texas.
The process was cumbersome, and old-timers joke that Washington bureaucrats threw darts at a board to determine the fares between Cleveland and Minneapolis. Airlines that wanted to expand their route maps were subject to interminable red tape and could wait years for responses. There was an air of gentility about the airlines, and most U.S. carriers were restricted to domestic routes while Pan Amâand to a lesser extent TWA and Easternâflew the American flag overseas.
Then President Gerald Ford, followed by President Jimmy Carter, expressed support for deregulating commercial aviation, and the movement came to be seen as a precursor of deregulation in other industries, such as telecommunications and trucking. The man chosen to usher in the future was Dr. Alfred Kahn of Cornell University, who had written The Economics of Deregulation , the seminal work on the topic. Kahn was tapped by Carter to head up the CABâand then dismantle it.
Perhaps one anecdote sums it up. When PBS broadcast an examination of airline deregulation in 2002, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen Breyer was among those interviewed, because back in the 1970s he was chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. In that role he worked closely with Senator Ted Kennedy in shaping the Airline Deregulation Act, which was signed into law on October 24, 1978. On PBS, Breyer recalled how Lamar Mews, then the president of Southwest Airlines, attended a hearing and said: âThe people who put those chicken coops on the tops of their car and drive across Texas donât do that anymore. They and their chicken coops can come right on my airplane.â Breyer noted they certainly did, and he told PBS, âNo one says itâs fun, flying in an airplane filled with chicken coops. But nonetheless, if people want to pay the low prices for that kind of service, they should have the opportunity to do it. Thatâs what had to happen in Texas, and now the object of the hearings was to ask why shouldnât that be true everywhere?â
Today, of course, it has become true everywhere, and the cabins of regional jets are jam-packed with chicken coops to prove this. I reached out to Justice Breyer to see if he has further thoughts on the effects of deregulation, but word came back that his views have not changed. In fact, most of those who fought for deregulation still support the principle, if not all the results.
Upon Kahnâs death in December 2010, the Wall Street Journal ran this headline: âStuck in an Airport? Blame Alfred Kahn (1917â2010).â Although he died just as I began researching this book, I contacted several people who worked closely with Kahn on deregulation: Michael Levine, Severin Borenstein, Diana Moss, and of course, Justice Breyer. They all maintain Kahn was an uncommon man, exceedingly bright and generous. But opinions vary slightly on how he viewed the aftereffects
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