Airline Flying... Is it for everyone?

     In today's economy and current airline prices, much more people can afford to fly than when airline flight became increasingly popular in the Early to mid 1900's. According to Wikipedia, the average price of a domestic ticket price dropped by 40% since 1978. Say a ticket in 1960 cost $75, in todays current economic state that $75 ticket would be worth almost $550! Keep in mind that the average minimum wage in 1960 was only about $1 per hour.

     Now comes this great question; should the majority of the general public be able to afford airline travel, or should it be reserved for the rich and famous? I personally believe that airline travel has become a normal in today's society, kind of like owning your own car and television. Everyone has it and everyone does it. If the airlines were to up the prices of tickets to prices that only the upper class could afford, would the increase in price make up for all the tickets no longer bough by the lower and middle class? What about the drastic decrease in flights that are made daily throughout the United States, or what about all the jobs that could potentially be lost because of this? Not only affecting pilot positions, but air traffic control services, maintenance facilities and so on would all have to make cuts. In my opinion, the increase in ticket price would not even come close to making up for all the money lost in other aspects of aviation.

     Many people today chose to fly places rather than to take other means of transportation. This is simple, flying is now a relatively cheap form of transportation and is much quicker than others in most cases. With time accounted for driving to the airport, going through baggage check and security, boarding the flight and flying to your destination, you could spend maybe an average of 5 hours on flights halfway across the country. Now think about how long it would take you to actually drive halfway across the country. It would be significantly longer. Not the mention the wear and tear you will be putting on your vehicle. Their are a few reasons why this is true. For one, a large airliner can hold over 400 passengers sometimes. Although the price to operate a large airliner is great, it is divided up between all the passengers. The price to drive a car is much smaller, but the cost must be covered 100 percent by the few occupants it holds.

     So what would really happen if the airlines were to raise their prices high enough that only the upper class could afford? Most likely they would all lose tons of money and fail. This of course being my personal speculation. I also believe that this may to lead to several government bailouts which our country is not in the position to be handing out with now.

     So basically, I believe that airline prices should be affordable to all!!