More Competition Will Benefit Air Travelers

Free-market competition has always been essential to America's success. Here, companies have traditionally been able to compete freely, succeeding on the basis of attracting customers, operating efficiently, and earning a profit over time.

In the airline industry, we have seen the benefits of competition first-hand. A generation ago, deregulation democratized air travel, making flying accessible to millions of Americans for the first time.

In more recent years, competitive carriers have brought fresh innovation to the skies, introducing more customer-friendly ways and providing greater value to the flying public.

Leading AirTran Airways has given me a special perspective on the power of competition. When we enter a new market, fares often drop as much as 50 percent, new traffic surges 150 to 500 percent, and passengers start saving serious money.

Today, however, a number of prevailing practices and public policies -- some well-intentioned -- are making it more difficult for the airline industry to function as a free-market, competitive system.

For starters, honest competition is being challenged by government subsidies. While it was appropriate after 9-11 for the government to safeguard our industry, the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB) was intended to provide temporary help to companies harmed by extraordinary events, not ongoing subsidies to carriers ill-served by their own business plans.

In effect, our government is supporting inefficiency, allowing some select carriers to operate more like quasi-independent public agencies than private companies. I'm not sure America wants the equivalent of Amtrak Airlines or the Postal Service Shuttle, but that's where we're headed.

Struggling carriers are also cultivating unique breaks from other companies. Some key industry lessors and suppliers are now cutting special deals to help keep their airline clients flying. While those involved are free to act in their own interests, their actions show that market distortions and subsidies come in many forms.

Free competition is also undermined by lingering barriers to airport and gate access. It remains very difficult for efficient, low-fare airlines to open up some of our busier airports to competition, leaving too many passengers at the mercy of incumbent carriers.

Taxes and fees on air travel represent another challenge to competition, specifically the ability of airlines to compete with other transportation options. Taxes and fees have ballooned over the last three years, to the point that we're now taxing air travel at the highest federal rate of any product or service -- including liquor and cigarettes.

So how do we move forward? I believe we must usher in a new era of freedom and competition and deregulation. That means phasing out special subsidies, opening up more airports to competition, and reducing exorbitant taxes and fees.

Ultimately, there is nothing wrong with the airline business the free market can't fix. More competition has the power to bring the industry back, expand the overall market, and provide the American people with more air travel options and better service than ever before.