Hard to believe, but once upon a time there was a planned economy in aviation in the USA. The end of which led to the bankruptcy of dozens of airlines – and in the end three brands made it big.
Who grabs Spirit? Actually, Frontier had courted the competitor first. Then Jetblue also shows interest. But the yellow low-cost airline repeatedly gave the new prospect the cold shoulder. How it will turn out is still unclear at the moment.
Whoever is awarded the contract, the goal is clear: the Big Four should have a new, powerful competitor. It would be the new number five in the United States behind American, Delta, Southwest and United.
American gathers most among themselves
It would be a further step in the consolidation that has been going on in the USA since the 1970s. A look at the three major traditional providers, Delta, American and United, shows just how much the airline landscape has changed: The three airlines are what is left of the 25 airlines that used to be.
Most airlines gather under today’s American Airlines. Twelve brands have now become one. TWA, Eastern Air Lines, Mohawk Airlines, US Airways, American West, Ozark, Air California, Piedmont, Reno, Pacific Southwest and Trump Shuttle are now part of the airline.
The world’s largest airline was born
Southern Airways, North Central Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Western Airlines, Northeast Airlines merged into Delta. And United includes Continental, People Express, Texas International Airlines and New York Airways. Both United and Delta received parts from Pan Am and National.
The latest step in this massive consolidation came with the merger of American Airlines and US Airways in 2013, creating the world’s largest airline. United and Continental had previously merged.
planned economy ended
However, the reason for this massive consolidation dates back years: The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The government under President Jimmy Carter decided to deregulate aviation in the country, ending the period of central government economy. In fact, until then, the Federal Civil Aeronautics Board CAB had authority over pricing and routes.
The agency had to ensure that all regions of the country were well served and that the US was well connected to the world. But the processing times for new routes sometimes took forever – and sometimes the whole thing didn’t come about after all. For example, in 1967, World Airways applied to operate low-cost flights between New York and Los Angeles. The Civil Aeronautics Board took six years to process, only to reject the application. He is out of date.
More than 100 bankruptcies
The deregulation act put an end to that. However, this also made dozens of airlines unprofitable in the decades that followed. As a result, more than 100 airlines went bankrupt or were taken over.