In its editorial yesterday, USA TODAY hammered the airline industry for what it said would be known “in another context…as a protection racket.” According to the editorial, airlines are putting “customers in a state of high anxiety” and “nickel-and-diming” them to give a way out. USA TODAY particularly focuses on the bag-check fee of $25 common on most airlines.
The editorial is worth reading in full for two reasons: first, the complaints completely ignore the basic economic concept called “supply and demand.” Second, it jumps straight into the arms of Big Government when it says, in its second to last paragraph, that airlines “invite…government intervention, such as a Senate bill that would mandate one free checked bag.”
Regarding the ignorance of supply-and-demand, the editorial has a rebuttal below it from the President of CEO of Airlines for America, Nicholas Calio in the paper’s “Another View” section. To quote Calio:
Oddly enough, the editorial actually acknowledges the existence and impact of supply-and-demand in the editorial. It points out that Jet Blue and Southwest “had some of the highest satisfaction scores” in a recent customer service survey, and makes a direct correlation between those airlines’ checked baggage policies and the policies of other companies.
When it comes to getting government involved, this seems like a large step over the proverbial line. With flying not being a necessity of life, and for many people a mere luxury for vacations and the like, why should government be involved in micromanaging checked baggage? The editorial makes a weak argument about the Transportation Security Administration’s lack of ease when it comes to examining checked bags, but then jumps right back into a Big Government solution basically designed to protect people from basic economics.
Americans often complain about little things when it comes to flying. Like the DMV or the Post Office, it’s an easy thing to do, and the editorial cites several proofs of customer dissatisfaction. Yet unlike the DMV and the Post Office, customers have options provided by the free market – we can drive personal vehicles, rent a vehicle or buy a bus ticket to travel long distances. What we don’t need is the government jumping in to micromanage another part of our lives.
Dustin Siggins is a policy and politics blogger and co-author of a forthcoming book on the national debt with William Beach of The Heritage Foundation.
