TRANSPORTATION - BTS - Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Figure 2-47International and Domestic Yield: 1978-98U.S. cents (1998$)/revenue passenger-miles25DomesticInternational201510501978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Working Paper on Aerospace Capacity and Demand(Washington, DC: 2000).hub. The USDOT identified best business practices, which airports could undertake to assureaccess to new entrants and carriers seeking to expand their service. A new law requiresUSDOT to analyze airports’ competition plans in response to the AIR-21 [Public Law106-181].While deregulation has provided higher levels of service and lower fares to much of thecountry, certain areas have received fewer benefits. Travelers in some mid-sized cities on theEast Coast and in the Midwest have experienced limited service and pay relatively high fareson certain routes. Since low-cost, convenient airline service is now a major factor in economicgrowth and our quality of life, provision of adequate air service to these communities remainsan issue to be addressed.Our efforts will continue to improve the efficiency of our air transportation system andenhance domestic competition so that the American public in all communities will reap thebenefits of deregulation. We have to be visionary and vigilant to ensure that industryrestructuring and alliances bring greater benefit to all air travelers. At the same time, we haveto ensure that the regulatory environment does not curtail the profitabiliy of the industry.MaritimeIn 1975, the shipping liner industry operated on a regulated system of conferences establishedin the 19 th century. These conferences were voluntary associations of ocean carriers thatserved as rate-setting mechanisms globally or on particular trade routes. Conferences alsoattempted to ensure strong support for national flag carriers.The Shipping Act of 1916 endorsed antitrust immunity for conferences and adopted theconcept of “common carriage” (all shippers, small or large, must be treated equally bycarriers) as its guiding principle. This law regulated the ocean-shipping industry for the next68 years. Meanwhile, technological advances in the industry, especially containerization,dramatically improved the industry’s productivity in the 1960s.The advent of containerization and the growing uncertainty about the future of the conferencesystem led to calls for reform, culminating in the Shipping Act of 1984. This Act allowed theconferences to engage in collective ratemaking activities, but provided Federal MaritimeCommission (FMC) oversight. The FMC’s primary responsibility is to “protect the nation’soceanborne trade from unfair treatment by foreign governments and to ensure that carrier2-48