#Jetblue is trying to buy #SpiritAirlines. It's a terrible idea. Consolidation in the US aviation industry has resulted in higher fares, less reliable planes, spiraling junk-fees, and brutal conditions for flight- and ground-crews. The four remaining US major airlines, who gobbled their rivals, are three times more profitable than their European counterparts:
1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/12/they-put-it-in-writing/#that-was-then
2/
That's great news if you're an airline shareholder. It's terrible news if you're hunting for your lost bags, or if you're a flight attendant or pilot being squeezed, or if you're being hit for billions in covid bailouts - or if you're one of *million Americans* who were stranded during Christmas week by the failure of #SouthwestAirlines' IT systems, which use duct-tape and wishful thinking to hold together the IT systems of all the airlines #SWA bought:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/16/for-petes-sake/#unfair-and-deceptive
3/
The collapse of competition in the US airline industry is the result of a deliberate policy, the "#ConsumerWelfare" theory of #antitrust, which says that #monopolies are "efficient" and good for the public. It's a theory that took root under #Reagan, and was reaffirmed and expanded by every president, R or D, since.
4/
Cory Doctorow
Heather