Flying has actually gotten much cheaper in the last 20 years

Advertisement

Flying has actually gotten cheaper over the last 20 years - let that sink in for a second.

Advertisement

The US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics compiled the average domestic airfare of US airports from 1995 to 2015, taking inflation into consideration, and shockingly proved that with a few ups and downs, over the last 20 years the average cost of a flight has generally decreased.

The reasoning behind this is that competition has been driving fares down and airlines are struggling to make a profit - despite packing people into economy like livestock. This has been a trend since the US airline industry was deregulated in 1978, but has continued ever since.

To prove it, we chose the five busiest US airports - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York - and plotted the price of their average airfare over the last 20 years on a graph.

Take a look below.

Advertisement

BI Graphics_Cheaper Flying Fares

Dylan Roach/Business Insider