Similarly, if you think an airline charges too many fees, stop flying it. In the vast majority of cases, there is a transportation alternative to get to where you want to go. Rather than using common sense, we have the spectacle of yet another congressional hearing designed to simply berate CEOs — this time over the fees airlines are charging. The only role for government in the fee equation is to ensure the public has easy access to the price sheet. Then, customers will decide which fees they’re willing to pay and which they aren’t. Airlines will then adjust to the market signals. Some fees will stay, some will go away. Instead, we get this:
Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., who led a House hearing today on the matter, told airlines that the public will push back “and then Congress will act” if the industry does not show restraint with the fees.
“That’s not a threat,” the congressman said. “That’s history.”
Rep. Oberstar should take his own advice and show “restraint” with his own power.
