percent lower than their competitors (Douglas and Miller, 1974). That 30 percent was the potential dividend that the champions of deregulation hoped to collect for the public.
The early years of deregulation tended to bear out the hopes and expectations of the champions of deregulation. Air fares on many routes, and particularly on the most heavily-travelled routes, did drop sharply (Kasper, 1988), resulting in substantial savings to the public. Moreover, deregulation extended not only to prices but to route entry; existing carriers were freer to add (or drop) routes, while the barriers to entry o
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