Originally Posted by
CBreezy
This.
What you will eventually see is very cheap foreign airlines lowering wages to offer lower and lower fares. It's the only piece of the puzzle left that can be controlled. With the high level of automation in the newest widebodies, it will be easier to hire inexperienced crew to manage the airplane. This will all be fine until the incidents like Air France, Asiana, Air Malaysia start killing Americans. By the time it becomes a problem, the American airline industry will already be in shambles. Let's be 100% honest; there is absolutely no reason to have trans-Atlantic roundtrip fares for $100 in a $100 million jet burning tens of thousands of dollars in jet fuel.
No reason? I'm a consumer, and I want a $100 round trip fare. That's reason enough. It's why these airlines exist. You might as well say that after deregulation there was no reason for cheaper transcontinental fares and that Southwest, JetBlue, etc shouldn't exist.