Transportation by air: job growth moderates (EXCERPT), Monthly Labor Review Online, Mar. 2000

Transportation by air: job growth moderates

William C. Goodman

Commercial air transportation has grown rapidly in the United States since 1938 or
earlier.¹ The most significant reason for such growth is probably that air travel has become almost continuously more affordable. Ticket prices adjusted for inflation have been falling consistently since 1950 or earlier.²

Airfares have decreased over the years not because of any one consistent reason, but because of two distinct sets of circumstances: regulation and deregulation. From 1938 to 1978, Federal control of fares, routes, and even the existence of each airline prevailed. After the lifting of economic regulation, price competition was a major force. Before 1978, development of the commercial airplane itself contributed heavily to decreases in the costs of operations and consequently to lower fares (after adjustment for inflation). After 1978, when changes in routes and fares and the formation of new airlines became unrestricted, price competition and a variety of management responses to competition have reduced operators’ costs. The resulting lower fares have multiplied demand and jobs in the industry.

This excerpt is from an article published in the March 2000 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.

Read abstract Download full article in PDF (74K)

Footnotes
1 Annual numbers of passengers carried starting in 1938 can be found in the "Safety Record of U.S. Airlines," Air Transport Association, on the Internet at http://www.air-transport.org.

2 Real fares also are from the Air Transport Association, on the Internet at
http://www.air-transport.org.

Within Monthly Labor Review Online:
Welcome | Current Issue | Index | Subscribe | Archives

Exit Monthly Labor Review Online:
BLS Home | Publications & Research Papers