According to figures recently published by the Washington PostAccording to the article, fares charged by the US airline industry have actually fallen by 16% since 1995, when adjusted for inflation. The author of the article, based on figures supplied by the US Department of Transportation, highlights the decline, albeit relative, in the fares charged by the airlines, not without irony: "Travellers will probably not want to hear this, but in purely economic terms, the survival of US airlines in the market is nothing short of miraculous". A "miracle" no doubt linked - at least in part - to the many ancillary costs that American carriers, and then their European counterparts, have introduced into their pricing.
