How Airlines Colluded to Ensure Onboard Food Would Be Awful
20th July 2025
Airline deregulation in the United States didn’t mean that airlines were no longer regulated. In fact airlines are one of the most heavily regulated businesses in the country. Instead what it meant was that the government would no longer be the one to decide which routes airlines could fly, and what prices they had to charge.
The Civil Aeronautics Board focused on eliminating ‘ruinous’ competition and ensuring prices were high enough, and competition limited enough, that airlines could earn a consistent profit.
However when you set prices high, airlines compete for customer business in other ways. Each ticket was lucrative, so they’d spend money on customers – for instance on service and food and beverage – to attract more ticket sales.
Airlines also colluded to limit inflight drink service. U.S. airlines entered into an agreement not to serve customers more than two drinks back in 1956, but the agreement fell apart in 1971 as carriers competed for business.
The CAB actually discussed whether they needed to regulate the thickness of sandwiches on board, because airlines were getting too competitive on food. They were charging high prices for tickets, but spending that money right back on the customer – and the government meant to stop it.
Somehow I had forgotten that there were, once, actual regulations on inflight sandwiches – at least for international flights.
That’s not all he forgot. He is totally oblivious to the fact that all of this is caused by government interference in the industry; he just ignores it on his proglodyte way to bashing the airlines. (Proglodytes live in fear that somebody somewhere is making a profit.)