[JanSolo]

The article mentions that due to consolidation there are only 4 major airlines in the US and they are very aligned in their prices and policies thus giving little choice to US consumers. Doesn't that mean there's an opportunity for someone to start a new airline that could compete with the big 4 by offering better prices or more lenient policies? Demand for flights is clearly very high right now; perhaps there's an entrepreneurial opportunity here? Thoughts?

[standardUser]

There's almost a dozen other national-ish airlines and a few dozen regional and commuter airlines, but it's hard to compete with the big ones because they can't offer the same number of routes. I fly JetBlue whenever I can because I'm tall and they have the best legroom, but about half my trips end up on other airlines because JetBlue doesn't fly everywhere. But people who fly a lot and use Delta or United can travel virtually anywhere without ever having to go "out of network". The smaller airlines can capture the people who frequently take a small number of routes, but the best customers are always going to gravitate towards an airline they can use a much as possible to maximize status and rewards.

[QuarterReptile]

Alaska airlines, hawaiian airlines, Breeze, Avelo, Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant.

There are tons of airlines. I can often have my choice of airlines to fly to a particular city, nonstop, within a given hour. Where's the lack of choice? Economy tickets range from cheap to very cheap, unless you need to fly somewhere like Guam. Renting cars and booking places to stay are both significantly more expensive pieces of traveling. As long as that's true, it's hard to justify flights getting that much cheaper... unless you're flying a family of 6+, in which cases you're part of a small market.

[falcolas]

The cost of entry is absurd, and the industry is highly regulated. The profit margins for acting as just an airline are also pretty thin, IIUC.

I think you’re ultimately right, but finding an investor would be irrationally difficult.

[bvirb]

That sounds like Virgin America 20 years ago and I think it worked out well for them and for consumers. They had really cheap, reasonable flights, and they forced everyone else to put entertainment in the seat backs. I really miss their silly purple lighting and lounge music when you boarded.

[s3p]

Not exactly. Airlines (in my view) are not a perfectly competitive industry: there are extremely high setup costs and barriers to entry. It would be very very difficult for a newcomer to compete with the established ones, at least in the US.

Edit: a word