More passengers fly within the United States each year than any other country. On many levels, this makes sense, given the size of the U.S. economy, the distances involved, and that aviation is an industry where the U.S. remains highly competitive, from the manufacture of aircraft to the making of jet engines. And supposedly, the industry is also a poster child for deregulation, culminating with 1978’s Airline Deregulation Act.
Yet while there are hundreds of brands of breakfast cereal, there is limited product differentiation from a limited number of U.S. airlines. Moreover, air travel isn’t becoming materially more reliable—the percentage of U.S. domestic on-time arrivals was no greater in 2022 than it was in 2002. We should have more options, and better performance. In short, we need air travel abundance.