Addison & list: I went to my favorite inflation site http://osu.orst.edu/dept/pol_sci/fac/sahr/cv00.pdf I was a grad student at UCLA from 1973 - 1978 and flew twice a year from LA to Washington Dulles (back when Dulles was peaceful and there was no ugly box calle the Midfield Terminal). I just bought a Christmas-time ticket from Portland to Dulles, non-stop, round trip for $540. I could have done better (by as much as $200) had a I waited a few days or been willing to take a 2 leg flight. But, it is winter, and why bother angst-ing over the weather in the stopover city and where the connecting flight is coming from (especially if one of those cities is Detroit). Second confession: This is on United, so either I have great faith, or great stupidity (or both). Please keep your judgement on that to yourselves :-) Anyway, $540 in 2002 dollars is about $196 in 1978 dollars, (and 162 in 1975 dollars) so if you consider that LA to Dulles was a more cometitive route then than Portland - Dulles, I am paying less now than in 1978. $1000 in 2002 is 364 in 1978 dollars (and 300 in 1975 dollars). I won't claim that amenities or seating have improved, or even stayed the same, but the planes are certainly better. In a way, airlines have been like baseball owners. They know the fares are too low, but they are afraid to raise them, just as baseball owners know the salaries to the big name players are too high (and companies are paying their CEO's too much). There have been many problems with deregulation (failure to enforce anti-trust laws, for example), but we have made out like bandits in terms of prices. The selfish part of me is sad to see the prices rise, but I would rather have higher prices and keep United, etc. than have higher prices and lose United. john On Wed, 14 Aug 2002, Addison Schonland wrote: > OK, so where do we go from here? > 1.. Chap 11 followed by massive layoffs and broken unions - 558 pilots > from TWA laid off at AA will keep the supply/demand ratios for US pilots in > limbo; maybe every flight attendant over 40 retires/early pension (this > might be a good thing) > 2.. Foreign flags buy 24.9% of US partners? LH buys UA to protect Star? > (would cost under 100m euros) > 3.. Massive consolidation follows - down to 3 majors? Yes, one would be > SW! > 4.. Horrible fare increases along with sharply curtailed schedules - huge > fleet retirements, esp. MD80s, 744, 767, 733, 734, 735 & nobody in the US > touches the F100s > 5.. Followed by lots of startups using MD80s and 733s by the score > 6.. Then we can pay $1,000 coast to coast on a 757/767 (non stop) or $500 > on a narrow body with at lead 1 stop > This is so depressing. Any input? > -- John F. Kurtzke, C.S.C. Department of Mathematics 278 Buckley Center University of Portland Portland, OR 97203 503-943-7377 kurtzke@up.edu