Originally Posted by Lowlevel

If every US airline raised ticket prices to what they really should be, I guarantee that people will still pay the price and fly. Loads may drop for a short while, but would pick back up. This is a mobile and global society, people need to travel by air to get business done and for other needs. An airline ticket should never cost less than it would cost you to drive somewhere. Example: JFK-MCO, 1106 miles and 17 hours of driving, given a car that gets 24 mpg, that is 46 gals. of gas (at $2.75= $126.73). Now determine what your time is worth, for this example, we will just use $7.25 per hour (minimum wage). Airline flight is 2 hours, so 15 extra hours of driving= $108.75. So, to drive would actually cost you $235.48 (not including depreciation on the vehicle, oil, etc). You can buy a ticket on an airline for $79.00. I know most people think their time is worth a lot more than minimum wage, but as you can see, even at minimum wage air travel is still way underpriced! I didn't even include a hotel room on the way for those that can't drive the whole 17 hours direct.
Really want to see how cheap airline travel is? Look at JFK-LAX! Only $99! Now, look at the drive: 2813 miles, 43 hours driving ($311.75), 117 gals of gas ($321.75), maybe 2 nights in hotels at $80 ($160)...$793.50 Total! (This is only counting the actual driving as time, if you want to add 8 hours each night in hotels....it's more)
I wish the airlines would stop being such pussies when it comes to raising airfare. Put the price where it should be, people will still fly. If you fly it, they will come.