September 4, 2024.   Let’s Be Frank.

So the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by Frank Lorenzo, of all people, pushing back against government efforts to rein in airline fees and impose new regulations. If you’re not sure who Frank Lorenzo is, look him up. As a friend of mine put it, Lorenzo opining about the airlines is akin to Hannibal Lecter giving advice on fine dining.

That said, Lorenzo’s complaints aren’t wrong, exactly. The type of bureaucratic meddling being proposed could end up hurting consumers more than it might help. But he and the Transportation Department, run by Pete Buttigieg, are fussing over minutiae rather than addressing what’s really wrong with flying. The problem isn’t lavatory accessibility or the speediness of refunds. The problems are congested skies, an understaffed air traffic control system, and tedious airport security.

Long lines and long delays, in other words. Fix those two things, and you’ve made commercial air travel a vastly more pleasant experience: Rethink TSA, fund ATC, and incentivize airlines to consolidate departures in the most crowded sectors, using larger planes. Then you can fuss over the small stuff.

Photo courtesy of Unpslash.