Editing Airline (section)

===United States===
{{main|Air transportation in the United States}}

====Early development====
[[File:TWA 1940.jpg|thumb|[[TWA]] [[Douglas DC-3]] in 1940. The DC-3, often regarded as one of the most influential aircraft in the history of commercial aviation, revolutionized air travel.]]

[[Tony Jannus]] conducted the United States' first scheduled commercial airline flight on January 1, 1914, for the [[St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line]].<ref name="Society">{{cite web|title=Tony Jannus, an enduring legacy of aviation|url=http://www.tonyjannusaward.com/history/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717073628/http://www.tonyjannusaward.com/history/|archive-date=17 July 2011|access-date=2 December 2010|work=Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society|publisher=tonyjannusaward.com}}</ref> The 23-minute flight traveled between [[St. Petersburg, Florida]] and [[Tampa, Florida]], passing some {{convert|50|ft|m}} above Tampa Bay in Jannus' [[Benoist XIV]] wood and muslin biplane flying boat. His passenger was a former mayor of St. Petersburg, who paid $400 for the privilege of sitting on a wooden bench in the open cockpit. The Airboat line operated for about four months, carrying more than 1,200 passengers who paid $5 each.<ref>Carey, Susan, First airline offered no frills, many thrills, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', December 31, 2013, p. B4</ref> [[Chalk's International Airlines]] began service between Miami and Bimini in the [[Bahamas]] in February 1919. Based in [[Ft. Lauderdale]], Chalk's claimed to be the oldest continuously operating airline in the United States until its closure in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airportbusiness.com/web/online/Top-News-Headlines/CHALKS-AIRLINES-LOSES-FLIGHT-LICENSE-ITS-AIRPORT-LEASE-COULD-BE-CANCELED/1$15115 |title=Chalks Airlines Loses Flight License |publisher=airportbusiness.com |access-date=2 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927221010/http://www.airportbusiness.com/web/online/Top-News-Headlines/CHALKS-AIRLINES-LOSES-FLIGHT-LICENSE-ITS-AIRPORT-LEASE-COULD-BE-CANCELED/1$15115 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Following [[World War I]], the United States found itself swamped with aviators. Many decided to take their war-surplus aircraft on barnstorming campaigns, performing aerobatic maneuvers to woo crowds. In 1918, the [[United States Post Office Department]] won the financial backing of [[United States Congress|Congress]] to begin experimenting with [[air mail]] service, initially using [[Curtiss Jenny]]<ref>Amick, George. "How The Airmail Got Off The Ground." American History 33.3 (1998): 48. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 November 2011.</ref> aircraft that had been procured by the [[United States Army Air Service]]. Private operators were the first to fly the mail but due to numerous accidents the US Army was tasked with mail delivery. During the Army's involvement they proved to be too unreliable and lost their air mail duties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historynet.com/airmail-service-it-began-with-army-air-service-pilots.htm|title=Airmail Service: It Began with Army Air Service Pilots|website=www.historynet.com|date=12 June 2006|language=en-US|access-date=14 October 2017}}</ref> By the mid-1920s, the Post Office had developed its own air mail network, based on a transcontinental backbone between [[New York City]] and [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]].<ref>Clark, Anders (22 August 2014). "[https://disciplesofflight.com/big-arrow/ Now That's a Big Arrow]". Disciples of Flight. Retrieved 16 July 2015</ref> To supplement this service, they offered twelve contracts for spur routes to independent bidders. Some of the carriers that won these routes would, through time and mergers, evolve into [[Pan Am]], [[Delta Air Lines]], [[Braniff Airways]], [[American Airlines]], [[United Airlines]] (originally a division of [[Boeing]]), [[Trans World Airlines]], [[Northwest Airlines]], and [[Eastern Air Lines]].

Service during the early 1920s was sporadic: most airlines at the time were focused on [[airmail#History|carrying bags of mail]]. In 1925, however, the [[Ford Motor Company]] bought out the [[William Bushnell Stout|Stout Aircraft Company]] and began construction of the all-metal [[Ford Trimotor]], which became the first successful American airliner. With a 12-passenger capacity, the Trimotor made passenger service potentially profitable.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/current/airmail-in-america/the-airplanes/the-ford-trimotor.html | title = The Ford Trimotor and Douglas M-2 Mail Planes | work = Postal Museum | access-date = 27 July 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191006013802/https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/current/airmail-in-america/the-airplanes/the-ford-trimotor.html | archive-date = 6 October 2019 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Air service was seen as a supplement to [[rail transport|rail]] service in the American transportation network.

At the same time, [[Juan Trippe]] began a crusade to create an air network that would link America to the world, and he achieved this goal through his airline, [[Pan Am]], with a fleet of flying boats that linked [[Los Angeles]] to [[Shanghai]] and [[Boston]] to [[London]]. Pan Am and Northwest Airways (which began flights to Canada in the 1920s) were the only U.S. airlines to go international before the 1940s.

With the introduction of the [[Boeing 247]] and [[Douglas DC-3]] in the 1930s, the U.S. airline industry was generally profitable, even during the [[Great Depression]]. This trend continued until the beginning of [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ASLAUrX3UE8C&q=boeing+247+profitable&pg=PA62|title=A Companion to International History 1900–2001|last=Martel|first=Gordon|date=15 April 2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470766293|language=en}}</ref>

====Since 1945====
[[File:Stratocruiser op Schiphol, Bestanddeelnr 903-5913.jpg|thumb|[[Boeing 377]] of [[American Export Airlines]], the first airline to offer landplane flights across the North Atlantic in October 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Commercial_Aviation/atlantic_route/Tran4.htm |title=Air Transportation: The Beginnings of Commercial Transatlantic Service |publisher=centennialofflight.net |access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref>]]

World War II, like World War I, brought new life to the airline industry. Many airlines in the Allied countries were flush from lease contracts to the military, and foresaw a future explosive demand for civil air transport, for both passengers and cargo. They were eager to invest in the newly emerging flagships of air travel such as the [[Boeing Stratocruiser]], [[Lockheed Constellation]], and [[Douglas DC-6]]. Most of these new aircraft were based on American bombers such as the [[B-29]], which had spearheaded research into new technologies such as [[pressurization]]. Most offered increased efficiency from both added speed and greater payload.<ref>{{Cite web|title=history of airliners 1950 to 1959|url=http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/airliners/2nd%20upload/timeline%2050s1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517084004/http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/airliners/2nd%20upload/timeline%2050s1.htm|archive-date=17 May 2008|access-date=14 October 2017|website=www.century-of-flight.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jal.com/en/history/aircraft/60s/pick_61-70_01.html|title=History of JAL {{!}} DC-8-32|website=www.jal.com|access-date=14 October 2017}}</ref>

In the 1950s, the [[De Havilland Comet]], [[Boeing 707]], [[Douglas DC-8]], and [[Sud Aviation Caravelle]] became the first flagships of the Jet Age in the West, while the Eastern bloc had [[Tupolev Tu-104]] and [[Tupolev Tu-124]] in the fleets of state-owned carriers such as Czechoslovak [[Czech Airlines|ČSA]], Soviet [[Aeroflot]] and East-German [[Interflug]]. The [[Vickers Viscount]] and [[Lockheed L-188 Electra]] inaugurated turboprop transport.

On 4 October 1958, [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] started [[transatlantic flight]]s between [[Heathrow Airport|London Heathrow]] and [[New York-Idlewild Airport|New York Idlewild]] with a Comet 4, and [[Pan Am]] followed on 26 October with a Boeing 707 service between New York and Paris.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-how-the-jet-travel-era-began-in-earnest-449222/ |title= How the jet travel era began in earnest – 60 years ago |date= 4 October 2018 |author= Max Kingsley Jones |work= Flightglobal}}</ref>

The next big boost for the airlines would come in the 1970s, when the [[Boeing 747]], [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10]], and [[Lockheed L-1011]] inaugurated [[widebody]] ("jumbo jet") service, which is still the standard in international travel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-747-first-flight-47years-ago-2016-2|title=The Boeing 747 jumbo jet changed air travel with this momentous event 47 years ago|work=Business Insider|access-date=14 October 2017|language=en}}</ref> The [[Tupolev Tu-144]] and its Western counterpart, [[Concorde]], made supersonic travel a reality.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.history.com/news/the-cold-war-race-to-build-the-concorde|title=The Cold War Race to Build the Concorde|work=HISTORY.com|access-date=14 October 2017}}</ref> Concorde first flew in 1969 and operated through 2003. In 1972, [[Airbus]] began producing Europe's most commercially successful line of airliners to date. The added efficiencies for these aircraft were often not in speed, but in passenger capacity, payload, and range. Airbus also features modern electronic cockpits that were common across their aircraft to enable pilots to fly multiple models with minimal cross-training.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/america-by-air/online/jetage/jetage17.cfm|title = The Computer Revolution in the Cockpit &#124; America by Air}}</ref>

====Deregulation====
[[File:Pan Am Boeing 747 at Zurich Airport in May 1985.jpg|thumb|[[Pan Am]] [[Boeing 747]] ''Clipper Neptune's Car'' in 1985. The deregulation of the American airline industry increased the financial troubles of the airline which ultimately filed for bankruptcy in December 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Commercial_Aviation/Bankruptcy/Tran9.htm |title=Air Transportation: The Airline Bankruptcies of the 1980s |publisher=centennialofflight.net |access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref>]]

The 1978 U.S. [[Airline deregulation act|airline industry deregulation]] lowered federally controlled barriers for new airlines just as a downturn in the nation's economy occurred. New start-ups entered during the downturn, during which time they found aircraft and funding, contracted hangar and maintenance services, trained new employees, and recruited laid-off staff from other airlines.

Major airlines dominated their routes through aggressive pricing and additional capacity offerings, often swamping new start-ups. In the place of high barriers to entry imposed by regulation, the major airlines implemented an equally high barrier called [[loss leader]] pricing.<ref name="Andrew R. Thomas">{{cite news|url=http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/current-affairs/9781430236771|title=Mr. Soft Landing: Airline Industry Strategy, Service, and Safety|publisher=Apress|year=2007|access-date=7 May 2012|archive-date=2 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602002044/http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/current-affairs/9781430236771|url-status=dead}}</ref> In this strategy an already established and dominant airline stomps out its competition by lowering airfares on specific routes, below the cost of operating on it, choking out any chance a start-up airline may have. The industry side effect is an overall drop in revenue and service quality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://asq.org/quality-report/10-year-analysis.html |website =American Society of Quality (ASQ)|title = The American Society for Quality Debuts Quarterly Quality Report with 10-Year Analysis}}</ref> Since deregulation in 1978 the average domestic ticket price has dropped by 40%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/airlines/analysis/analysis_airline_industry.html |publisher =Massachusetts Institute of Technology|title = Airline Industry Overview}}</ref> So has airline employee pay. By incurring massive losses, the airlines of the USA now rely upon a scourge of cyclical Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to continue doing business.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/12/blame_jimmy_carter_for_all_the_airline_bankruptcies_or_better_yet_thank_him_.html |title=Air Fail|publisher = Slate |work = Moneybox|date = 1 December 2011|last = Yglesias|first = Matthew}}</ref> [[America West Airlines]] (which has since merged with US Airways) remained a significant survivor from this new entrant era, as dozens, even hundreds, have gone under.

In many ways, the biggest winner in the deregulated environment was the air passenger. Although not exclusively attributable to deregulation, indeed the U.S. witnessed an explosive growth in demand for air travel. Many millions who had never or rarely flown before became regular fliers, even joining [[frequent flyer]] loyalty programs and receiving free flights and other benefits from their flying. New services and higher frequencies meant that business fliers could fly to another city, do business, and return the same day, from almost any point in the country. Air travel's advantages put long-distance intercity [[railroad]] travel and bus lines under pressure, with most of the latter having withered away, whilst the former is still protected under [[nationalization]] through the continuing existence of [[Amtrak]].

By the 1980s, almost half of the total flying in the world took place in the U.S., and today the domestic industry operates over 10,000 daily departures nationwide.

Toward the end of the century, a new style of [[low-cost carrier|low cost airline]] emerged, offering a no-frills product at a lower price. [[Southwest Airlines]], [[JetBlue]], [[AirTran Airways]], [[Skybus Airlines]] and other low-cost carriers began to represent a serious challenge to the so-called "legacy airlines", as did their low-cost counterparts in many other countries.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/budget-airline-trends-2016/index.html|title=Budget airlines changed the world. What next?|date=21 March 2016|work=CNN Travel|access-date=14 October 2017|language=en}}</ref> Their commercial viability represented a serious competitive threat to the legacy carriers. However, of these, [[ATA Airlines|ATA]] and Skybus have since ceased operations.

Increasingly since 1978, US airlines have been reincorporated and [[off spin|spun off]] by newly created and internally led management companies, and thus becoming nothing more than operating units and subsidiaries with limited financially decisive control. Among some of these [[holding company|holding companies]] and [[parent company|parent companies]] which are relatively well known, are the [[UAL Corporation]], along with the [[AMR Corporation]], among a long [[list of airline holding companies]] sometime recognized worldwide. Less recognized are the [[private-equity firm]]s which often seize managerial, financial, and [[board of directors]] control of distressed airline companies by temporarily investing large sums of [[Equity (finance)|capital]] in air carriers, to rescheme an airlines assets into a profitable organization or [[liquidate|liquidating]] an air carrier of their profitable and worthwhile routes and business operations.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}

Thus the last 50 years of the airline industry have varied from reasonably profitable, to devastatingly depressed. As the first major market to deregulate the industry in 1978, U.S. airlines have experienced more turbulence than almost any other country or region. In fact, no U.S. [[legacy carrier]] survived bankruptcy-free. Among the outspoken critics of deregulation, former CEO of American Airlines, [[Robert Crandall]] has publicly stated: "Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing shows airline industry deregulation was a mistake."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2011/11/29/amr-filing-shows-airline-deregulation-failed-exceo.html |title=Robert Cranall former CEO AA, CNBC |website=[[CNBC]] |date=November 29, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429202738/http://www.cnbc.com/id/45477274/AMR_Filing_Shows_Airline_Deregulation_Failed_Ex_CEO |archive-date=29 April 2013 }}</ref>

====Bailout====
Congress passed the [https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/2926 Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act] (P.L. 107–42) in response to a severe liquidity crisis facing the already-troubled airline industry in the aftermath of the [[September 11 attacks]]. Through the [[Air Transportation Stabilization Board|ATSB]] Congress sought to provide cash infusions to carriers for both the cost of the four-day federal shutdown of the airlines and the incremental losses incurred through December 31, 2001, as a result of the terrorist attacks. This resulted in the first government bailout of the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ostpxweb.ost.dot.gov/aviation/Data/stabilizationact.pdf |title=Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act |access-date=3 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409061950/http://ostpxweb.ost.dot.gov/aviation/Data/stabilizationact.pdf |archive-date=9 April 2009 }}</ref> Between 2000 and 2005 US airlines lost $30 billion with wage cuts of over $15 billion and 100,000 employees laid off.<ref name="Bamber, G.J., Gittell, J.H., Kochan, T.A. & von Nordenflytch, A. 2009">{{cite book|url=http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100965480 |author=Bamber, G.J. |author2=Gittell, J.H. |author3=Kochan, T.A. |author4=von Nordenflytch, A. |year=2009 |title=Up in the Air: How Airlines Can Improve Performance by Engaging their Employees|publisher=Cornell University Press, Ithaca |chapter=chapter 5}}</ref>

In recognition of the essential national economic role of a healthy aviation system, Congress authorized partial compensation of up to $5 billion in cash subject to review by the [[U.S. Department of Transportation]] and up to $10 billion in loan guarantees subject to review by a newly created [[Air Transportation Stabilization Board]] (ATSB). The applications to DOT for reimbursements were subjected to rigorous multi-year reviews not only by DOT program personnel but also by the [[Government Accountability Office]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04725r.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04725r.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Subject: Aviation Assistance: Compensation Criteria and Payment Equity under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act|date=4 June 2004 |website=www.gao.gov|access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref> and the DOT Inspector General.<ref>[http://www.oig.dot.gov/StreamFile?file=/data/pdfdocs/aa20011024.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717225216/http://www.oig.dot.gov/StreamFile?file=%2Fdata%2Fpdfdocs%2Faa20011024.pdf|date=17 July 2009}}</ref><ref>[http://www.oig.dot.gov/StreamFile?file=/data/pdfdocs/cr2003092.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717231319/http://www.oig.dot.gov/StreamFile?file=%2Fdata%2Fpdfdocs%2Fcr2003092.pdf|date=17 July 2009}}</ref>

Ultimately, the federal government provided $4.6 billion in one-time, subject-to-income-tax cash payments to 427 U.S. air carriers, with no provision for repayment, essentially a gift from the taxpayers. (Passenger carriers operating scheduled service received approximately $4 billion, subject to tax.)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dot.gov/affairs/carrierpayments.htm |title=U |publisher=Dot.gov |access-date=22 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527104415/http://www.dot.gov/affairs/carrierpayments.htm |archive-date=27 May 2010 }}</ref> In addition, the ATSB approved loan guarantees to six airlines totaling approximately $1.6 billion. Data from the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury Department]] show that the government recouped the $1.6 billion and a profit of $339 million from the fees, interest and purchase of discounted airline stock associated with loan guarantees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/atsb/ |title=Air Transportation Stabilization Board |publisher=Treas.gov |date=22 September 2001 |access-date=22 August 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080709052637/http://www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/atsb/ |archive-date = 9 July 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{As of|May 2018}} the four largest [[Major airlines of the United States|major carriers]] controlled 70% of the U.S. passenger market.<ref name=AvWeek14May2018/>