Delta's fares are 30 percent to 50 percent higher than in competitive markets. It used an example of a recent round trip fare to Washington National airport was $856 but it was only $352 to the nearby Dulles Airport. Eventhough, Delta has done this and increased its profits 250 percent since 1994 the high fares hurt air travel to Atlanta and the local economy. To combat this the metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce recently asked for bids to study how to increase airline competition in Atlanta, eventhough the chamber realizes that Delta is its largest employers and the high fares are good for Delta. This is an illustration of how one airline has dealt with the deregulation act. Monopolizing markets with high fares and only cutting prices in competitive markets, is the simple strategy of supply and demand. Although Delta has monopolized some markets, it knows it cannot continue to over charge passengers to make up for losses in competitive markets. Local economies will suffer and they will be forced to bring in competition to lower fares and increase traffic to their cities. That cannot last forever because it is not good for those local economies. Delta built a reputation of quality customer service and presenting a professional atmosphere. In 1997 Delta became the first Airline to carry 103 million passengers in one year and in 1999 they carried a record 106 million passengers. Furthermore, Delta and its worldwide partners operate 5,465 flights each day to over 364 cities in 61 countries. Finally, from 1938 Delta's Growth of certificated Domestic route miles grew from 1,091 to over 50, 380, the largest in industry....
