Airline Consolidators
Airline consolidators are the newest things in airlines. Air fare consolidators attempt to merge or combine airlines to help airlines stay afloat when the trend of traveling lags. Some airlines that look to airline consolidators want to offer their passengers cheap airfares and an airline consolidator can help them do that by merging smaller airlines together.

When an airline decides to work with an airline consolidator, here is how it works. First, a smaller sized airline or an airline that is in the red, in terms of their financial status, decides they need help. They can either choose an airline consolidator to re-invent their airline or they can face going bankrupt. Airfare consolidators will work with the airline, or in some case, several smaller airlines to create a bigger airline that can offer cheaper consolidators air fares. But this is not always the case, as bigger airlines tend to have a higher overhead than smaller ones, and this cost gets passed on to consumers.

This also happens with international airlines. This is not just unique to North America. In fact, airline consolidator and international tickets for travel, often result in higher prices. If you are looking for airfare discount, consolidators in Europe also affect these airports. When international consolidator airline tickets are combined, you might have a better chance of finding a flight that fits your needs, but not at a discounted price. International airline consolidators can pull together struggling airlines and help them offer their passengers air consolidators cheap international airfares without facing going out of business. One example is of air travel with Australia consolidator fares.

Many people wonder if airline consolidators really work. They work for the airlines, but many passengers feel that in the end, they are paying higher airline consolidators fares. When smaller airlines are turned in to “mega” airlines, they can ask the passengers to pay any amount. When there is no competition, the result is higher consolidators air fares. You can never really avoid an airline consolidator if you fly with airlines that have merged, but you can do your part in making sure you are getting good customer service and good prices for your flights by shopping around.


Neidl, addressing a recent gathering of the American Association of Airport Executives, said the airline industry has to continue to consolidate. While he sees a merger of bankrupt Delta and Northwest as unlikely, he held out the possibility of a three-way mega-merger involving Continental, Delta and Northwest as workable, should it pass government anti-trust regulators.
In his presentation, Neidl painted a picture of a U.S. airline market divided in half. One half would be served by the survivors of the so-called legacy carriers ? five of which have declared bankruptcy in the last few years. The other half would be served by the low-fare discount carriers like Southwest and Jetblue, favored by consumers for their service and their ticket prices. If so, that would model recent developments in China?s airline industry.

Five years ago China?s highly regulated airline industry began a major consolidation. The government established three major airline groups to serve the country. The system was supplemented with seven smaller airlines. But the system has been evolving ever since, with consolidation taking place earlier this year among some of the seven regional carriers.
Many critics say consolidation is probably not in the best interests of the airlines, and certainly not good for consumers. Bigger airlines with dominating hubs at the nation?s major airports would put these mega-carriers in the position to impose their rates. Consumers, they say, would have fewer choices.

Then there?s the question of whether the answer to the large airlines? problem is to get even bigger. American Airlines gobbled up TWA in 2001, but that didn?t save it from bankruptcy. Bankrupt US Airways has just completed its merger with America West, but experts say it?s still too early to tell whether that union will solve US Air?s problems.

Meanwhile, there continues to be plenty of evidence that, as far as airline profits are concerned, small is beautiful. Southwest Airlines, which has grown to be the nation?s sixth largest airline the old fashioned way ? through earnings instead of mergers ? is still thought of as a small, discount carrier. Newcomer jetBlue is also profitable, as are a host of even smaller regional airlines that serve many of the airports the legacy carriers overlook.
Southwest and jetBlue routinely fly with full planes, a sign of high consumer satisfaction. The same can?t be said for their larger competitors, whose response to competition has