This year marks the 20th anniversary of airline deregulation in America. Undertaken in 1978, and primarily led, surprisingly enough, by Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Jimmy Carter, airline deregulation has proven to be a remarkable success story. Airline ticket prices are almost 40 percent lower today than they were in 1978.
Airlines are safer after deregulation.
In the 15 years prior to deregulation, airlines averaged one fatal accident per 830,000 flights. In the 15 years after deregulation, airlines averaged only one fatal accident per 1.4 million flights. More flights became available after deregulation. And while air carriers only flew roughly 2.5 billion miles in 1978, they logged more than twice that amount last year, flying approximately 5.7 million miles in 1997. Finally, airlines served approximately 250 million passengers in 1978, but roughly 600 million in 1997.