Airlines had the advantage of not having to compete with a shiny new industry the way rail did with airlines. I'm sure airlines would have suffered greatly had we developed cheap rocket power transport or high speed pneumatic tubes or some other zany sci-fi transport that left the airlines looking slow and overpriced.
Rail in the US died because US cities are far enough apart that flying made a noticeable difference in travel times, unlike more compact countries. There's a reason Amtrak only works well in the relatively dense northeastern seaboard of the US.
That said, the airline industry is one where competition seems to be working pretty well. It's a market success story. The most efficient market is one where everybody is making close to 0 profit, and that's a good description of the airline industry in the past few decades, especially when you focus on the relatively small part of the airline industry that deals with flying planes and their passengers.
Rail in the US died because US cities are far enough apart that flying made a noticeable difference in travel times, unlike more compact countries. There's a reason Amtrak only works well in the relatively dense northeastern seaboard of the US.
That said, the airline industry is one where competition seems to be working pretty well. It's a market success story. The most efficient market is one where everybody is making close to 0 profit, and that's a good description of the airline industry in the past few decades, especially when you focus on the relatively small part of the airline industry that deals with flying planes and their passengers.