Mexico has its feared drug cartels, infamously known for their brutality, impunity, and stranglehold on entire regions. Italy had its Cosa Nostra—the mafia syndicates that infiltrated politics, policing, and business with ruthless efficiency.
And the United States? We have the airline industry.
Of course, America’s airline cartel doesn’t shed blood in the streets or engage in drive-by shootings—though according to some flight attendants, the cartel’s rulers knowingly jeopardize passenger safety. It’s an allegation the industry’s lobbyists and PR operatives reflexively deny, but it’s becoming harder to ignore.
The Big Four—American, Delta, United, and Southwest—control more than 80% of the U.S. market. They squash competition through merger-driven domination, airport slot hoarding, coordinated capacity restraint, and backroom lobbying, all while making passengers pay more for less comfort, less reliability, and even less recourse. Travelers who challenge the cartel’s dysfunction or simply express too much aggravation can find themselves permanently blacklisted—with little explanation and virtually no path to appeal.
Their congressional enablers ensure that the cartel’s CEOs—Scott Kirby (United), Ed Bastian (Delta), Robert Isom (American), and Bob Jordan (Southwest)—aren’t held accountable, even though they owe their continued existence to U.S. taxpayers, who bailed them out during the pandemic under government rescue packages that came with only modest, short-term restrictions. While those bailouts included temporary caps on executive compensation, they did little to address the industry’s deeper structural dysfunctions.
In the years leading up to the pandemic, the cartel spent billions on stock buybacks—boosting share prices and enriching shareholders—while failing to build the financial resilience needed to withstand a crisis that, while not predictable in its timing, was always within the realm of possibility.
In 2024, the cartel’s chieftains were rewarded handsomely:
• Kirby: $34 million
• Bastian: $27 million
• Isom: $16 million
• Jordan: $10.6 million
Meanwhile, flight attendants are so poorly paid that many work second jobs just to survive.
Management ineptness
Recent events make clear that the cartel’s executives are wholly unequipped to run companies of the scale, complexity, and consequence they oversee.
Take American Airlines’ latest embarrassment. Last week, two of its pilots flew a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from Philadelphia to Naples, Italy—apparently unaware the airport’s runway was too short for their aircraft. They discovered the issue only upon descent, forcing a diversion 124 miles away to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.
American last Monday also suffered yet another IT meltdown, rendering its website and app unusable for hours. Callers were met with a robotic voice—outsourced, offshore, and utterly useless—advising them to “please try again later.”
American laid off 656 U.S.-based call center workers last year.
The airline blamed the outage on a vendor—taking a page from Delta’s deflection playbook. After Delta’s own tech disaster last year forced the cancellation of 7,000 flights and stranded 1.3 million passengers, the airline blamed Microsoft and sued one of its vendors. But Microsoft alleged the real culprit was Delta’s aging, brittle tech stack. Delta’s vendor has since countersued, claiming the carrier failed to comply with FAA regulations requiring resilient, redundant IT systems.
Perhaps instead of virtue preening for the corporate media about Georgia’s election laws, Bastian should have spent more time brushing up on federal aviation compliance.
Southwest’s share repurchases
Southwest, in December 2022, sustained a massive meltdown that caused 16,900 flight cancellations. That operational failure left two million passengers stranded and led to a $140 million civil penalty enforced by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
The reason for the failure? Southwest had opted to spend billions on stock buybacks rather than invest in upgrading its dated IT infrastructure.
Undeterred, Southwest is reportedly gearing up to do more share repurchases to satiate the greed of the hedge fund that took a significant stake in the airline last year.
Mounting maintenance issues
Then there’s the mounting, near-catastrophic string of maintenance-related incidents. The airline cartel relies on an outsourcing firm in El Salvador for much of its heavy maintenance, although United also uses an aviation maintenance provider based in China.
To be clear, not every mechanical problem is a failure of maintenance. Planes are subjected to harsh conditions, and sometimes even great systems fail. But many mechanical issues are predictable, preventable, and repeatedly swept under the rug.
As I was writing this post, a new story appeared revealing that a maintenance lapse led to an engine fire last month aboard an American Airlines jet at Denver International Airport, forcing a dramatic emergency evacuation.
An NTSB report cited multiple maintenance oversights as contributing factors. A critical safety wire designed to secure a fuel connection in the engine was found loosely installed and incorrectly positioned. Additionally, a variable stator vane (VSV) actuator was not attached properly, creating the risk of a fuel leak.
Compounding these issues, a drainpipe in the affected engine was blocked with an adhesive substance, which may have further restricted proper drainage. These faults collectively triggered engine vibrations shortly after takeoff, prompting the pilots to halt their ascent at 16,000 feet and divert to Denver.
Upon landing, while taxiing to the gate, the aircraft’s right engine caught fire. Ground camera footage later showed the aircraft leaking fluid during its five-minute taxi, signaling a possible fuel or hydraulic leak.
This past Saturday, an American Airlines plane heading from Iowa to Chicago was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after take off due to an undisclosed “mechanical issue.”
Delta’s emergency landings
Emergency landings are becoming routine at Delta, whose CEO Ed Bastian likes to promote the carrier as a “premium” airline.
On May 20, a Delta flight from Houston to Detroit experienced an engine fire shortly after takeoff caused by a compressor stall. Between April 6 and 10, three separate Delta flights suffered cabin pressurization issues, forcing emergency landings.
On April 21, a Delta Airbus A330 caught fire on the ground at Orlando International Airport during pre-departure. The blaze began in the tailpipe of one engine. A Delta flight to South Carolina from Atlanta also was forced to return because of a smoke filled cabin.
Delta is currently facing 16 lawsuits stemming from a crash at Toronto’s Pearson Airport in February. The lawsuits allege “gross negligence and recklessness” by crew members who were “inadequately trained and supervised” by Delta and its regional subsidiary, Endeavor, which operated the aircraft.
Delta, of course, denies it was entirely responsible for the incident—even though the aircraft carried its logo.
Also in February, a Delta Boeing 717 had not one but two smoke-filled cabin incidents within ten days—both triggering emergency landings.
In another issue, A Delta passenger last month suffered extreme heat exhaustion on a delayed flight without air conditioning, leading to his hospitalization.
United’s issues
A recent United flight to China had to return to SFO two hours into its journey because of an undisclosed mechanical issue. That incident came on the heels of a near-collision at SFO, when a United pilot made a wrong turn during takeoff—raising fresh questions about training and safety standards.
United’s proprietary flight school, which promises a pilot’s license in just one year, is now facing multiple lawsuits alleging consumer fraud.
Reality TV regulators
It’s hard to have much faith in the FAA, the agency charged with overseeing the commercial airline industry. Michael Whitaker, Joe Biden’s choice to lead the FAA, was a friendly airline industry veteran and one of a growing number of presidential appointees to emerge from the world of reality television.
Whitaker previously appeared on Wheel of Fortune, spinning for vowels while bedecked in a tan suit. Jennifer Granholm, Biden’s former Energy Secretary, once appeared on The Dating Game.
Bryan Bedford, President Trump’s nominee to lead the FAA, posed as a flight attendant on Undercover Boss without proper certification when he was CEO of Frontier Airlines. Bedford previously championed industry efforts to reduce by 50% the required flight hours for co-pilots—a proposal the FAA rejected in 2022.
Meanwhile, Sean Duffy, the current U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Trump, also has a background in reality TV. Before his political career, Duffy gained national attention as a cast member on MTV’s The Real World: Boston in 1997. He later appeared on Road Rules: All Stars and Real World/Road Rules Challenge, where he met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy—also a reality show alum.
Americans should also understand this: when commercial airlines jerk around European passengers, the consequences are swift, financial, and enforceable. Under EU law, aggrieved travelers have the right to meaningful compensation—and if airlines don’t pay, passengers can hire a court bailiff to seize assets, including aircraft, until they do.
In the U.S., passengers too often just get a crummy voucher, a chatbot apology, and the privilege of trying again.
Enough is enough. The airline cartel has abused its power, endangered its passengers, and insulated its executives. It’s time to break it up—before the next crisis makes that decision for us.