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I don't think it's just the U.S.
The one thing to realize about the entire airline industry: Since its inception, it has operated at a net loss. I can't think of another industry like that off the top of my head.
So what you have is an entire industry where profits are a big question mark. Sure some airlines turn some nice profits, but then that could disappear a year later. It's one of the toughest industries out there.
The concept of "pushing tin" I think is an essential one. You need to be extremely efficient with moving planes around because it's so goddamn expensive to run the things. Could you imagine taxi, train, or bus services giving passengers the same treatment? No fucking way. But it's an unfair comparison when you account for all the operational factors. Operating "chairs in the sky!" is a completely different thing from most other forms of transpiration.
That said, I don't see any real and significant fixing anytime soon. I'd be happy just to have the industry remain a feasible travel option. That's what I expect and hope for. You can't expect hotel hospitality from this industry unless you have buckets of money. And by then, you might as well be flying privately.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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