Sanders Wants To Force Airlines To Refund Passengers for Flights Delayed Over 1 Hour
Sanders is right to bemoan the fact that airlines received $74 billion in pandemic-related aid from the federal government, which was ostensibly doled out to ensure airlines would be able to be resilient during low-travel times and get back to regularly planned service once conditions stabilized, though it didn't quite work out that way. It's almost like infusions of federal cash change airlines' incentives, and don't even fully prevent bad outcomes!
It's hard to see how the federal government intervention proposed by Sanders would create the endgame he desires, at a time when airlines are struggling to adapt to quickly changing conditions, and still face many unknowns—like whether business travel will ever fully rebound—that are tough to plan for.
Many sectors of the economy are experiencing strain right now. There's a palpable sense among American consumers that everything is getting simultaneously worse and more expensive. But this will not always be the case, since markets have a way of sorting these things out over time and readjusting to consumers' ever-changing needs. Eventually, supply chains will restabilize. Ports will no longer cyclically close down or be short-staffed due to COVID lockdowns. The real estate market will cool down a bit, with homes no longer going for 20 percent above asking. Inflation will someday be below today's staggering 8.6 percent. And, yes, airlines will once again compete for the mantle of best and most reliable, taking discerning flyers with them (and letting those who don't care as much about service interruptions gravitate toward more affordable airlines).
But it's not Sanders who will pull all this off—it's market forces, quietly at work, that should be trusted, not messed with.
Sanders is right to bemoan the fact that airlines received $74 billion in pandemic-related aid from the federal government, which was ostensibly doled out to ensure airlines would be able to be resilient during low-travel times and get back to regularly planned service once conditions stabilized, though it didn't quite work out that way. It's almost like infusions of federal cash change airlines' incentives, and don't even fully prevent bad outcomes!
It's hard to see how the federal government intervention proposed by Sanders would create the endgame he desires, at a time when airlines are struggling to adapt to quickly changing conditions, and still face many unknowns—like whether business travel will ever fully rebound—that are tough to plan for.
Many sectors of the economy are experiencing strain right now. There's a palpable sense among American consumers that everything is getting simultaneously worse and more expensive. But this will not always be the case, since markets have a way of sorting these things out over time and readjusting to consumers' ever-changing needs. Eventually, supply chains will restabilize. Ports will no longer cyclically close down or be short-staffed due to COVID lockdowns. The real estate market will cool down a bit, with homes no longer going for 20 percent above asking. Inflation will someday be below today's staggering 8.6 percent. And, yes, airlines will once again compete for the mantle of best and most reliable, taking discerning flyers with them (and letting those who don't care as much about service interruptions gravitate toward more affordable airlines).
But it's not Sanders who will pull all this off—it's market forces, quietly at work, that should be trusted, not messed with.
