Can Regional Airlines Help Travelers' Woes?Harrison Chastangbyline‚ Aug. 04‚ 2008Flying to LA in a big leather seat, listening to Sun Ra and Steely Dan while sipping a nice white wine. The flight attendant addresses me by my first name. The flight’s late, so the flight attendant issues coupons for a free drink on the next flight. Flying first class on United? No, I’m in a $59 seat on Virgin America flight. If you have to fly, Virgin America, San Francisco’s hometown airline, is the way to go. Paul Hogarth’s July 30 article on the sad state of the airline industry just hit the tip of the iceberg. Most of its problems can be blamed on unfettered deregulation that gave major carriers the green light to use mergers and takeovers to eliminate the regional carriers that aggressively competed with the major airlines. The mergers and takeovers were justified on the grounds that fewer airlines would result in better service to more places and lower fares. |