Was airline deregulation good or bad? And Why?

Was airline deregulation good or bad? And Why?

Both.

Legacy carriers faced increased competition both domestically and overseas. They were stuck between heavily subsidized or nationalized flag carriers for international travel… And start up carriers who didn't have the legacy costs of high wages and pensions from years of protected routes and hubs.

However, it massively changed how airlines operated. Yield management was introduced to maximize profits based on demand and availability of seats. Capacity purchase agreements allowed third party regional carriers to provide air services for a fraction of the costs to the point of them basically offering what were previously mainline services. Fleets were rationalized, switching from wide body hub and spoke or milk run operations to narrow body frequent direct flights between city pairs with one type of aircraft (the 737 or A320). ATC also modernized to accommodate more of these direct flights with things like RNAV and GNSS approaches, arrivals, departures, and routings.

It was good for some people, namely the airlines, and bad for the consumer. Nothing is absolutely good or bad.

Bad? That is questionable. What air deregulation did was chop the costs, by shrinking the seats.
Prior deregulation you had the room to sit comfortably. The aisle was wider.
I first flew in 1958, Detroit to London. In the late '60's I flew regularly in my job.

Now, If I have to fly, I have to stop drinking six hours before -- so I would not have to use the restroom. I will be stuffed into the seat, no room forward, no side room. Dinner is no longer served -- which is good since using a fork would have you poking an elbow into the next passenger.

I miss the days before deregulation, and I do not fly.

It depends… If you were one of the few that could afford to fly before deregulation, it was bad. If you think a $79 cramped seat on Allegent or Spirit is still far better than a 12 hour car ride, it was good.
If you live in a market that supports enough traffic to bring in multiple airline, it's a good thing, since competition keeps the price down. If you are in a smaller city, it's not good, since the airlines were required to provide service to small cities.

If you are a pilot or flight attendant, it's a mixed bag: there are more flights, and there for more jobs, but with price competition the slim profit margins reduced pay and made companies less stable, so pensions are always at risk.

It was bad for employees, for passengers, and for residents of most small towns. It was good for corporate management and merger lawyers.

Bad. Now they screw you every chance they get. The seats are narrower, the pitch is less and they hit you with all kinds of extra fees for darn near everything. There's no consistency from one airline to another so comparing prices is almost impossible and a bag you can take on one plane you can't take on another due to the their stupid weight rules. Plus the quality of the flight crew has gone down the tubes.

NEARLY ALL government regulation was hard fought for against industry lobbyists and paid for with the sacrificed health and lives of many thousands of innocent consumers.

BIG CAPITALIST BUSINESSES have already PROVEN they can't be trusted WITHOUT government regulation.

And Trump and his treasonous GOP led congress is condemning your children to suffer all over again at the hands of irresponsible and greedy special interests.

F'ck the GOP