It's pretty astounding that flight attendants aren't actually paid for all the hours they work, and I think, as we've seen with the rather extreme delays and cancellations over the past number of years, really, that the problem is exacerbated.
I know I've gotten on flights and we've had a problem with the aircraft. We got off the flight, waited several hours to get a new plane and got back on. The flight attendants were working that entire time, managing passengers, and they weren't getting paid for a single minute of it. That's something that has to change immediately.
When you were talking about the demarketization, which is a new phrase to me, especially of northern and regional air service, it reminded me of the fact that we've heard many times from airlines that they want the fees and charges to be reduced, and I think that's similar to what we hear from most businesses that appear before committee and are asked about affordability. They say, reduce our fees and charges and we'll make things more affordable.
Does the evidence bear that out? The question is, in markets that lack competition, if you're a business and you have a monopoly or you're part of a duopoly or you're part of an oligopoly and the government reduces your costs, what's the incentive for these businesses? In your view, what's the incentive for these businesses to make things more affordable for customers?