​Charlotte Douglas International Airport History

Air travel has come a long way since the inception of commercial airlines in the early days of flight. However, the early days of commercial flight were nothing like the experience travelers have today. For example, in 1919, a twenty-six-year-old Atlantan, James H. Elliot leased part of Candler Field, the future sight of Atlanta Hartsfield International. He opened a "flying business," charging one dollar a minute for 10-15 minutes "nailbiting adventure" in his Curtiss Jenny, a single engine, open cockpit, bi-plane. It wasn't long before commercial airlines started making their appearance. Initially, the draw was the modern marvel of flight. Nowadays, most people are just interested in the conveniece of flight. Part of that is finding the best deal on the tickets themselves. Back in Elliot's day $15 was a significant portion of the average workers monthy salary and prices only went up from there. Even as recently as the late 1970's it was illegal for an airline to charge less than $1,442 in inflation-adjusted dollars for a flight between New York City and Los Angeles. Now you can get one for $300-$400. So what gives? There are a number of factors at work. A more robust airport infrastructure fueled by technology driven improvements account for some of this change, but one factor in particular is most responsible for this change. The de-regulation of commercial airlines in 1978 changed the paradigm. The combination of airport growth and airline competition following de-regulation marked a drastic reduction in airfares, especially at Charlotte Douglas. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics does not have any historical data prior to 1995, however, a 2013 Atlantic article details the history surrounding the history of ticket prices (see link).