Terminal Sickness How a 30-Year-Old Policy of Deregulation is Killing America's Airline System - And Taking Cincinnati, Memphis and St. Louis With It By Phillip Longman and Lina Khan America's airline service is collapsing fast, and business across Heartland America is taking the hit, according to a new article by Phil Longman and Lina Khan of New America Foundation's Markets and Enterprise Program, in the March issue of The Washington Monthly. As the few remaining airlines in America slash routes to pay off debt, cities like Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Memphis, are being cut off from the rest of America and the world. The effects can be dramatic. Some cities have lost more than half their air service in a few short years. And no matter how big, these communities are finding they are all but powerless to alter the decisions of these private corporations. The effects are real and widespread. Leisure travelers face fewer choices and higher fares. But it is American business - which demands frequent and efficient service - that has been especially hard hit. As Longman and Khan report, Chiquita recently moved from Cincinnati to Charlotte precisely because it has become so difficult to fly executives in and out of Ohio. Most surprising is the culprit. For years experts have blamed higher fuel prices. But Longman and Khan show the problem stems from the so-called "deregulation" of the industry more than 30 years ago. The time has come to recognize that this policy of "deregulation" - first promoted in the 1970s by Ralph Nader, Ted Kennedy, and Stephen Breyer - has failed. For complete article in the March/April 2012 issue of The Washington Monthly, please click here |