There's an argument to be had here about state aid for airlines, but this isn't it. You know you're losing the debate when you try to link your opponent to 9/11.
Route location plays a huge part in Alaska's and Hawaiian's continued success. A better indicator of aviation progress is overall industry on-time pefromance, record, which continues to decline.
Ensuring adequate competition in airports large and small gives those airports more negotiating power against the big three national carriers, and could ensure adequate infrastructure for more visitors from abroad to spend their travel dollars in the US. This last is, after all, the mandate of organizations like the US Travel Association.
Outfitting aircraft with Wi-Fi is part of the battle. As Routehappy points out, the quality is still lacking with fewer than one percent of flights in the U.S. equipped with Wi-Fi that has the bandwidth to stream video.
Co-branded deals between airlines and credit card companies have become a lot more competitive of late and when it comes to the latest pact between American Express and Delta, the airline is just loving the boost to its ancillary revenue.
Delta is certainly feeling its oats these days with a windfall from the drop in fuel prices and its top-performing stock. No need right now to make any concessions on fares or to pay lip service to distribution through online travel agencies.
What is this world coming to when airline stocks are actually an attractive investment? The biggest airlines got a helluva lot bigger in 2014, setting the pace for growth among the largest publicly traded travel companies on the planet.