How the big airlines are using Uncle Sam to keep the cost of flying artificially high

The holiday season is in full swing, and tens of millions of Americans will be heading to airports to travel to spend time with friends and family. The 18-day stretch beginning on roughly Dec. 20, represents the busiest 18 days of the air travel year. Last year, an estimated 45.7 million Americans took to the skies over that period.

Unfortunately, for the tens of millions of Americans who will rely on air travel this holiday season, legacy airline carriers are playing the part of Ebenezer Scrooge this year: using the power of the federal government to pad their bottom line and keep the cost of flying artificially high.