ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990                   TAG: 9003290218
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

AIR-FARES STUDY PANS DEREGULATION CLAIMS

A new study contends that airline ticket prices are 2.6 percent higher today than they would have been without the 1987 Airline Deregulation Act, disputing recent administration findings that deregulation has saved travelers money.

In its report, the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said that although prices overall did go down since deregulation, much of the credit goes to a reduction in fuel costs. It argued that without deregulation, fares would have been even lower because competition would have remained stronger.

The Economic Policy Institute report calls on Congress "to reconsider the experiment of airline deregulation" by restoring some government supervision of the industry. For example, it proposed that ticket prices be regulated so that they reflect costs, not market forces between cities.

Paul S. Dempsey, a University of Denver transportation law professor and author of "Flying Blind: The Failure of Airline Deregulation," said Wednesday his study employed "more rigorous" research than did a Department of Transportation study released last month that found travelers now fly to more cities at lower fares than they did under government regulation. - Los Angeles Times 


 by CNB