Who Sets the Plane Fares?

For nearly six weeks in the last quarter of 1969 a small segment of trans-Atlantic air passengers benefited from the low tourist fares which emerged from a brief outbreak of price competition among the international airlines. Passengers and some of the industry analysts were so elated by the event that they even interpreted it as the beginning of a new era of competitive pricing on the international routes and as a belated realization by the carriers that competition is the key to air-travel merchandising.