Forget about ordinary inflation for a minute. What we pay for things goes a lot deeper than that. Sometimes, I feel like America's big corporations treat us like so much chattel. Too harsh a comparison? I don't think so. Really, their collective mission seems to be seeing how much money they can remove from our bank accounts over the course of our lifetimes.
Take the airlines, for instance. I love to travel, but remember when "getting there" used to be half the fun? Not anymore. The airlines' mission used to be not only to get passengers to their destinations but, dare I say it, to pamper us during a flight. Not anymore. These days, aboard most flights, you're made to feel like little more than cargo.
I don't have to remind my fellow longtime frequent flyers what it was once like. Airlines used to brag about their inflight services, you know, like their, ahem, meals. In the old days, on long-haul flights—those of three hours or more—who remembers flight attendants walking down the aisles asking each passenger what their choice might be for dinner? "Chicken or beef?" OK, it wasn’t haute cuisine, but these days? Are you kidding? Settle back for a mini pack of pretzel sticks or an individually wrapped cookie. At least they provide a cup of ice and a full can of Diet Coke, free of charge, to wash down that sweet or salty snack.
And what about that luggage fee you have to pay in addition to what you paid for your ticket? You remember the days when there was no charge for your luggage, don’t you? Well, in 2008, American Airlines announced it would begin charging a fee for checked bags—the first major U.S. carrier to do so. It wasn’t long before other airlines jumped on the bandwagon. And why did the practice begin?
The airlines claimed they needed those baggage fees to help offset the high cost of jet fuel, a result of the economically crippling 2008 recession. We consumers bit the bullet and ponied up. What choice did we have? We even gave the airlines the benefit of the doubt. After all, at the time, fuel costs were soaring for all of us. Oil prices reached as high as $150 per barrel, so we also felt pain at the gas pump. It stands to reason we could only expect to experience a little pain at the airport check-in counters. But we were also led to believe that baggage fees would be only a temporary thing—you know, until oil prices stabilized. Looks like the airlines pulled a fast one on us.
Since then, oil prices have dropped substantially, reaching as low as $50 per barrel and today hovering around $100. Adjusting for 15 years of inflation, that sounds like quite a deal for the airlines. You’d think they might cut us some slack by now, right? Something like, you know: “Recession’s over, jet fuel prices are lower, let’s show our passengers a little love and drop those nasty baggage fees.” Well, that didn’t happen, and it’s pretty easy to figure out why.
Baggage fees have created a huge profit stream—billions of dollars annually—for the airlines, and surprise, they’re not about to give them up. In fact, some airlines are taking things even further. American and United Airlines, eyeing another way to make money, introduced Basic Economy fares on some routes. Those lower fares may sound like a deal, but they get you on the other end. Passengers purchasing those tickets are required to check and pay for their full-size carry-on luggage—the ones we used to fit snugly into an airliner’s overhead compartments. If you want that privilege now, you’ll have to purchase a more expensive ticket. Discount carrier Southwest Airlines remains the only holdout on the baggage fee money grab.
Then there’s the whole seating thing. In economy class, you used to be able to select any seat you wanted, period. Well, it’s not that simple anymore. Many airlines now make you fork over an additional charge for seats that provide a few inches more legroom. That fee might be as high as an additional $50. But wait, it doesn’t end there.
What about those meals I mentioned earlier? After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many airlines began dropping meal service on domestic flights. In the early 2000s, Delta and United began selling snack boxes on board their flights and still do. No chicken or beef offered. Instead, you’ll get cheese, crackers, and maybe a hunk of summer sausage. And get this: The now-defunct US Airways charged for inflight drinks, too. And no, I’m not talking about alcohol either. I mean coffee, Diet Cokes, and even water. Thankfully, that practice didn’t catch on.
Enough about the airlines, though. After all, it’s not just them with their hands constantly rummaging around in our pockets. How many of us remember when there used to be dozens of airlines? I can toss a few names at you, like Eastern, Braniff, TWA, Pan Am, or even Southern Airways, which once served both Hattiesburg and Laurel municipal airports. But like so many areas of corporate America, merger mania took over, and we’re down to only a handful of what are now called legacy airlines. Here’s the thing, though.
When only a few companies dominate an entire industry, more money is taken out of our pockets. Less competition among businesses often translates into higher prices for consumers. The airline monopoly can be compared with those in the oil and meatpacking industries as well. That’s right: A handful of corporate executives control the cost of everything from the price of a gallon of gas to a pound of bacon.
They even try to trick us into thinking we’re paying the same price for the products we’ve used all of our lives, utilizing a sneaky little practice called “shrinkflation.” That is, you’re paying the same price for what's packaged to look like the same amount of, say, laundry detergent. But check the net weight. There may be less detergent in that container than you used to get.
It goes beyond what the airlines, oil companies, and food industry do to us. I don’t even have to tell you about the high cost of prescription drugs and medical care in this country. And don’t even get me started on the cable bill. It’s as if corporate America wants all of our money—all of it. So, what’s a person to do? Truth is, there’s not much we can do besides watch our budgets.
Corporate America has enjoyed healthy profits for years. No wonder there’s so much angst over the obscene paychecks earned by CEOs compared to what their employees bring home. They’re raking in big bucks while a company's workers are living paycheck to paycheck, making sacrifices every day just to cope with higher prices, for everything.
I'm telling you, it’s enough to make you want to take a vacation to get away from it all. Do yourself a favor, though: Pack your own lunch—you won’t have to pay for it. Besides, those airline snack packs aren’t very filling.
—
Elijah Jones is a proud Hattiesburg native who enjoys writing. Email him at edjhubtown@aol.com.
