of the Reagan-Bush era and its primary thesis is that "corporate dealmakers were able to enrich themselves at the expense of the American people during twelve years of Republican Administration in Washington" (Sheehan 84). This includes the airline industry which, Bartlett and Steele believe, has stifled competition, raised fares, and reduced services. But this may not be the case.
The U.S. airline industry has been characterized as one of the most transparent ones in America (Sheehan 85, and others). The vast amount of public data accumulated during the first fifty years of air transportation prior to deregulation has been highly supplemented with new information collected in the fifteen years following deregulation. According to economics professor Robert Gordon, airline deregulation has provided economists with an ideal "laboratory experiment" to which they have responded with a considerable amount of effort in studying (Sheehan 85).
Most researchers have been drawn to the conclusion that, while not absolutely perfect, deregulation has generally been good for the consumer. Despite fare increases on some routes due to decreased (or no) competition, overall fares declined 28 percent between 1981 and 1991 (Skinner 25). And since the early 1980s, when most new entry into the domestic airline market came to a halt, average domestic airfares have not inc
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