Can we federalize the airlines?

Question

The FAA controls the airspace; the air traffic controllers are federal employees; TSA controls security. With all of the bailouts the govt has done (with tax payer money) why can't the feds just federalize the airlines and take them over? After all, we already run a pretty good sized airline called the US Air Force! Most pilots are former military. I think the airlines have had their chance to run things and they have screwed it all up.

Answer 1

The govt used to control the airlines before the 80s.

If they did it again, ticket prices would go up by so much your head would spin.

Answer 2

Not legally.  But then, there's no legal authority for most of what you mentioned.

As for the Feds doing a better job, are you kidding?!?!?  TSA is a mess, as is almost every other Federal agency.  

Actually, given the handicaps they face due to the unions and the antiquated (federal!) air traffic control system, I think they do pretty well overall.

Answer 3

What do you mean by "federalize?" Do you mean taking them over (which is actually called "nationalizing") or regulating them (which is actually called "regulating").

I'm not sure that it's legal to nationalize public companies without their consent. Even if it is, major airlines are owned by their stockholders, who would demand compensation for their losses. Plus, the government would be taking on huge amounts of airline debt. The cost of this could be billions of dollars. What benefit would taxpayers get in return that would justify this? And why are the airlines special? General Motors is a mess. Do we nationalize them, too?

The government regulated airlines until the early 1980's. Airlines could not start or stop routes without government permission. They could not even raise or lower prices without government permission. Yes, the system ran more smoothly but there was a price. Airfares were higher (when adjusted for inflation). Flying was only for people who could afford it, not for cheap vacations. Fewer cities had air service. And, consumers had fewer choices on which airlines to fly since the government decided how many airlines and which ones flew each route.

Those $59 Southwest Airlines' sales  never existed under regulation. It would have been deemed to be harmful to the airline industry.

Yes, the airlines are a mess. However, consumers have had more flights to more cities at lower cost. Millions of people routinely fly who could not afford to fly in the old days. Deregulation isn't perfect, but it's better than getting the government involved.

And, let's not forget that consumers are partially to blame for the current mess. Airlines used to have good service. However, consumers demanded ever-lower airfares. Airlines could not offer free meals, great service, cheap fares, and make enough money to stay in business. So, they got rid of the meals and service in order to avoid losing customers to cheaper competitors.  Great service costs money. If people want a great travel experience, they have to be willing to pay for it. Until then, flying will continue to be a miserable experience - regardless of who is running the airlines.

Answer 4

I don't know about federalizing.  But some price supports might not be such  a bad idea in order to stop them from going bankrupt (which most of them have done in the last few years).

Answer 5

The airlines were regulated until 1978.  The problem was that the routes that could be flown were also controlled by the government so the airline ticket prices were higher due to less competition.  Deregulation allowed for ticket prices to go down as airlines were able to open up more routes and compete against each other.

Though some people like the idea of having the government run our airlines, I think a lot of people would be against it because there would be a lot of red tape airlines would have to go through to open up more routes.  I don't think service would improve either.