Isn't that the point? There are way too many airlines, way too many planes, and way too many pilots. The service of providing passenger flights does not have enough demand, whereas there is way WAY too much supply. It's the polar opposite of how you want to run a business. The government "bails" out the airlines, pilot's are forced to work for lower and lower wages because they can't actually strike and bring about necessary change, and bottom line is that the weak businesses are NOT ALLOWED TO DIE, so the entire industry is dragged down and there is a general dillution of service, to both customers and employees. Yes, a ticket should cost a LOT more, and no, there should not be 50 flights all flying to the same destination at the same time, although during peak periods you "can" fill those seats, it's not economically viable to own and operate the equipment during the rest of the year...unless you find a way to cut costs elsewhere. And who can forget tarmac delays? That's simply unacceptable, I don't care who's fault it is, keeping someone cooped up for that long is wrong and if you can't get out because of ground-stops or other atc delays, then you're simply knowingly operating beyond your and the FAAs means to provide that service, which is not ok.