| OCR Text |
Show b 4' RIGHTS Kahn, has emerged as a champion of the consumer, liberalizing regulations for charters and approving nearly all of the fare cuts sought by the airlines. Darius Gaskins, the CAB's head of economic analysis, believes discount fares will continue well into next yea'. "It's a price war, it's spreading, rapidly and it hasn't reached all elements of the market yet," Gaskins says. "It still hasn't affected normal CONTINUED Adam Thomson, chairman of the Association of European Airlines and boss of British Caledonian Airways, recently warned that as the transatlantic price war escalates, private airlines without government support might be forced out of business. What about domestic fares? The CAB, under its new chairman Alfred $114 40o: ; (9 1 4 it r t Young people at Gatwick Airport help Laker launch service last September. , Frosty fresh ono ggayso illstys'non (.;,i coach fares. And the airlines will have a hard time dropping lower fares when the public becomes accustomed to them. But where it will end I don't know." The airlines seem to be cautiously optimistic. Richard Greenberg, TWA's director of corporate communication, believes the discount fares are working well. But he points out that they must generate new business, fill empty seats. An airline is cutting e its own throat if it simply exchanges passengers for discount fliers. Discounts are aimed at the discretionary travelerthe family flying to Florida instead of driving, or splurging on a trip to see Grandma. But while the market waiting to be tapped is vast, it is also fragile. Explains United Airlines spokesman James Linse: "When you think that 37 percent of Americans over 18 have never flown, that's a lot of new business out there. But when there is any type of recession, the first thing that gets pinched is pleasure air travel." oil, a Cilless cm full-far- coast-to-coa- 1 - :. , ,,..... il 0 Slim profits ik. 11 Linse cautions that if the price war intensifies and profits are shaved, airlines may be . EN a. KEw t 1 C Ings (ativ 8 IL. Jar r 4. I1 1 A i 4 . ,(,... ,,,,4,, ,e itqp raf . I 01 Mer)th,, tm, lkJI .; 11 T r , ,, 1(-- 'ctitg, ;. oweri tar tha all these Ile 1 o . ow Sli:, ..1.1 vAivTAof a Salon --- tis 11"4 - 101. , , r 17? II a a. 4Itriali ot a I k Slyt,IT ' tt:::: sattsin MIL forced to save money by cutting services and amenities. United, he points out, made $98 million profit last year, but its earnings were only 3 cents on the dollar. If the discount war cuts that 3 cents in half, passengers might find themselves waiting in long lines to buy tickets, enduring longer waits for baggage and for reservation clerks to answer the telephones, having less legroom on planes and maybe even paying for their mealsas Laker's passengers do. In fact, this type of Spartan service may evolve if the public demands continued discount fares. Some observers believe that in the future Americans will have two clear choices for air travel: the present sophisticated systemwith advance reservations, multiple-airlin- e ticketing, and all the requirements for the business travelerand the Skytrain-typ- e service. Should this service become widespread between American cities, it will certainly attract the smaller, supplemental airlines, which are being hurt by the drop in charters. Airline deregulation, should it pass Congress, will allow the supplementals to compete with scheduled airlinesall of whi( h should benefit the consumer. Discount fares seem to he here to stay. But with the situation so fluid and fares changing almost daily, the hest advice to would-hpassengers is Call your travel agent. no-fril- BE LAIR rairr .t ... ", I a iii)) .,;:i, a J. Til1fl ,,J 0 st A 741 , I , 4.10 ill ,t . 18 4, , .0 err L....., II) r,,,,z, 1,4, Warning. The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health. e |
