The airline industry was deregulated by Congress 22 years ago this
month, but you wouldn't know it based on the Department of
Transportation's latest intervention into the private sector.
Responding to a complaint from consumer activist Donald Pevsner,
the DOT now is asking the airlines to advise people who call their
reservations numbers that there may be lower fares on the Internet.
A recording to this effect, played before the caller talks to an
airline reservations agent, apparently will satisfy the federal
agency.
Pevsner wanted to go even further and have any fare available on
the Web also available everywhere else. While I don't favor
government intervention in this area at all, Pevsner's whole-hog
idea probably made more sense that the government's "play a tape
first" approach.
The notion of this kind of partial reregulation of the way air
fares are offered to the public is a waste of time and taxpayer
money. The complexity of air fares and the multiple ways in which
they are distributed -- directly from the carriers, through travel
agents, or at any number of Web sites -- will defeat any attempt at
regulation.
Once again, we wonder why the airline industry is any different
from other businesses. Would the government require Nordstrom's to
have signs posted in their clothing departments that say "Attention
shoppers, some products featured in this department may be
available at lower prices in manufacturers' outlet stores?"
I understand that the same products and services are offered at
varying prices through different distribution outlets with varying
levels of service.
I make decisions every time I shop whether I want to wait in a
longer line or drive a greater distance to pay a lower price.
Sometimes I decide in favor of the better price; other times I
knowingly pay more for an item because I can buy it closer to home
or with less hassle.
I don't require manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of
products and services to alert me that I may be paying too
much.
The DOT intervention is an example of unnecessary government
meddling in the marketplace. American consumers are a lot smarter
than the federal government thinks.