Profitability and safety: Deregulation encourages airlines to reduce operating costs to stay competitive, while imperiling traditional safety practices

The U.S. airline industry is in turmoil. Deregulation - the abandonment in 1978 of a system under which the now-defunct Civil Aeronautics Board maintained tight control over airlines, telling them what routes to fly and what fares they could charge - has brought airline competition on a scale never before seen in the United States. And with it have come new problems for airline managements, maintenance technicians, and flight personnel.