Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
US airlines have lost nearly $60 billion ($2009) in domestic markets since the 1978 deregulation, most of it in the last decade. The dismal financial record challenges the economics of deregulation. I examine some of the common explanations among industry participants and researchers--including high taxes and fuel costs, weak demand, and competition from lower-cost airlines. Major drivers seem to be the demand downturn after 9/11--demand remains much weaker today than in 2000--and the large cost differential between legacy and low-cost carriers, which has persisted even as the price differential between them has greatly declined.