on April 22, 2026, 16:44:26, in reply to "Cool. Explain why the real price of a fare is almost half what it was 30 years ago despite consolida"
explain to me why the BTS data is wrong and it's more expensive to fly in real prices now despite almost 5 decades of industry consolidation and higher oil prices in real dollars.
i'll save you the time. you cannot do that. it is significantly cheaper to fly today than it was 10 years ago in real dollars - about $100 per domestic fare. 
Previous Message
ton and 3x oil prices in real terms.
Consolidation hasn’t caused prices to rise (neither has oil) on a 30 year trend.
Cool you worked in the industry, you should have a lot of insight in your explanation! Previous Message
And whose wife worked for one for 2 decades ending 2 years ago. Previous Message
this is from the BTS website
Year 3Q Average Fare in constant 2025 dollars ($) Year-to-Year Percent Change in Average Fare (3Q to 3Q) (%) Cumulative Percent Change in Average Fare (3Q 1995 to 3Q of each year) (%) Percent Change in Average Fare to 3rd Quarter 2025 (%)
1995 609 -39.3
1996 555 -8.9 -8.9 -33.3
1997 569 2.5 -6.7 -34.9
1998 625 9.9 2.6 -40.8
1999 614 -1.7 0.9 -39.8
2000 630 2.5 3.4 -41.3
2001 552 -12.4 -9.4 -33.0
2002 544 -1.5 -10.7 -32.0
2003 548 0.8 -10.0 -32.5
2004 507 -7.6 -16.8 -27.0
2005 503 -0.6 -17.4 -26.5
2006 526 4.4 -13.7 -29.6
2007 510 -3.1 -16.4 -27.4
2008 530 4.1 -13.0 -30.2
2009 461 -13.1 -24.3 -19.7
2010 504 9.4 -17.2 -26.6
2011 516 2.3 -15.3 -28.3
2012 516 0.0 -15.3 -28.3
2013 542 5.1 -11.0 -31.8
2014 543 0.2 -10.8 -31.9
2015 509 -6.4 -16.5 -27.2
2016 469 -7.7 -23.0 -21.2
2017 443 -5.7 -27.3 -16.4
2018 441 -0.4 -27.6 -16.1
2019 436 -1.2 -28.5 -15.1
2020 305 -29.9 -49.9 21.3
2021 372 21.8 -39.0 -0.5
2022 418 12.4 -31.4 -11.5
2023 388 -7.1 -36.3 -4.7
2024 376 -3.1 -38.3 -1.6
2025 370 -1.6 -39.3
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, https://www.bts.gov/explore-topics-and-geography/topics/air-fares ; and http://www.transtats.bts.gov/databases.asp?Mode_ID=1&Mode_Desc=Aviation&Subject_ID2=0
link is here
http://www.bts.gov/newsroom/3q-2025-air-fare-tables
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Consolidation and cheaper fares Also “if they’re right around the fares at the time of the merger” then those fares are *significantly* cheaper than 5 years ago because of inflation Previous Message
They will be able to justify flying more routes and servicing more locations, which I’m sure would be part of the argument. Also, since that merger, we saw oil prices correct for a solid 5 year period and they’re still right around the prices at the merger. Oil prices are what kill sales or restrict service. Big driver of why you’re now seeing airfare spike again as we work through this Iran conflict. Previous Message
Their scale will drive down prices as they compete.
I’m not saying that will happen, that’s the argument. Airline prices with the major carriers have been getting cheaper and cheaper over the years. *. Trend continued when we went from 4 to 3 when Continental and United merged. Don’t know why going from 3 to 2 would be different than that.
I would hate to see it, I think airlines are cool, but that would be the argument.
* relative to inflation. Previous MessagePrevious Message
the American people have the stomach to do what needs to be done to all of them.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cge0grppe3po
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