> The deregulation of airlines is already a case study of how deregulation tends to reduce competition and hurt consumers.

What the actual F? Deregulation of airlines was massively beneficial to consumers.

"Base ticket prices have declined steadily since deregulation.[15] The inflation-adjusted 1982 constant dollar yield for airlines has fallen from 12.3 cents in 1978 to 7.9 cents in 1997,[16] and the inflation-adjusted real price of flying fell 44.9% from 1978 to 2011.[17] Along with a rising U.S. population[18] and the increasing demand of workforce mobility, these trends were some of the catalysts for dramatic expansion in passenger miles flown, increasing from 250 million passenger miles in 1978 to 750 million passenger miles in 2005.[19]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_deregulation

How do the real price reductions compare to the rest of the world? Computers automated away a ton of airline jobs, and fuel economy has increased.

Also, are those prices apples to apples with pre-deregulation tickets?

Like, can I just walk up to the terminal, same day, pay that price, and get the equivalent of business class on the plane, and still pay 44% less than real 1978 prices?

Base ticket prices doesn’t seem like a great metric, not that I have a better trivial to measure metric off the top of my head (maybe leg room?), but competition has certainly gone down since deregulation.