My last long-haul flight was 14 hours in economy, and I noticed how the crew kept apologizing for the lack of space—yet ticket prices have barely dropped in real terms over the past decade. We often focus on cheap fares, but what about the hidden costs of airline consolidation, like fewer route choices and worse service? I've read that the top four US airlines control about 80% of the domestic market, and that concentration seems to affect everything from legroom to baggage fees. Is the current state of commercial aviation more a result of consumer demand for low prices or of regulatory failures that let competition shrink? I genuinely wonder if we'd all be better off with more strict antitrust enforcement, even if it meant higher base fares.