Anyone who has ever flown on an airplane is aware of how expensive it is and how hard it is to find an efficient airline. As a consumer we have limited choice in airlines, especially when it comes to trans-continental and international flights, meaning that we have to accept their prices and abide by their rules if we want to get to our destination. Airlines like United, Delta, and American Airlines charge passengers not only for their tickets but pile on a multitude of fees for simply purchasing a ticket. The nature of this industry with its power corporations taking up a large percentage of the market and competing with each other to increase their profit margins makes the airline industry an oligopoly.
While some may argue that the airline industry is not a true oligopoly because there are many other smaller airlines that can compete locally, this is not the case because many of these airlines have merged with larger companies, only keeping the name of the smaller airline to give the impression that they are separate companies. For example, Alaska Airlines merged with Virgin America while still keeping the Alaska Airlines name. This is not the first airline merger to happen almost every major carrier has participated in one. These mergers shrink the competition in the industry, increasing the percentage of the market owned by these larger airlines. This serves to increase the airlines ability to raise prices for the consumer, increasing their revenue, something they are able to do because there is so little competition. In fact, antitrust lawsuits have been filed against major airlines, and while these suits did not go through they raised interesting points about the prices airlines charge for things like checked luggage and in-flight meals and forced certain airlines to reduce their prices in order to shake some of these antitrust claims.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airline_mergers_and_acquisitions
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/011215/airline-industry-oligopoly-state.asp
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What's also interesting is that airlines have had different reactions to the various lawsuits. In June, a few major airlines resolved a lawsuit by consumers that alleged that the airlines were colluding to increase prices on consumers and limit airline capacity. American Airlines, the biggest target of the lawsuit, agreed to pay 45 million dollars to settle the lawsuit while Southwest agreed to pay 15 million dollars but denied the charges. American also denied the charges, while airlines Delta and United both denied the charges and refused to settle, opting to continue fighting in court.
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