...a tip of the hat to the man considered the “father of airline deregulation,†Alfred E. Kahn, who passed away this week at age 93. As chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, he spearheaded the unleashing of free market forces on an industry which until then had been heavily regulated and managed by the federal government.
The move to deregulate in 1978 led to a drop in airline fares and a surge in new carrier start-ups. It also led to the demise of long-time carriers who had difficulty operating in an economically unregulated environment. Pan Am, Braniff, Eastern … legendary names disappeared. Others like People Express came and went. And, of course, there are the low-cost success stories – Southwest, JetBlue, and the reformulated ValuJet, AirTran.
Today it’s all about mergers and carrier alliances, with an ever-increasing focus on international travel. Open Skies agreements have blossomed, and the concept of allowing more foreign ownership for domestic carriers, worldwide, is becoming more of an industry discussion, as is cabotage (a foreign carrier flying point-to-point domestically in the U.S., for example).
It could be said that today’s airline industry is not Alfred Kahn’s industry, but he certainly served as a major catalyst on taking the federal shackles off the industry.
I heard Kahn speak once as part of an airport forum. What struck me the most was that, among a panel of distinguished presenters, Kahn seemed to generate a level of respect from the audience that stood above the rest. He was a man who had an impact, for which the people in the room had a deep appreciation.
The Wall Street Journal concludes an editorial: “Alfred Kahn ought to be an intellectual example for today’s liberal Democrats in Congress and the White House, but, more likely, we’ll need another Alfred Kahn to unwind the regulatory resurgence of the Obama era.â€
The next decade should see an exciting time in the airline industry. Alfred Kahn surely would have enjoyed watching it all unfold.
Thanks for reading. jfi
(For another perspective, visit ACI-NA president Greg Principato’s blog on Alfred Kahn at http://acinablog.wordpress.com/.)