Rothmus 🏴(@Rothmus):Jimmy Carter ordered a federal agency to abolish itself and it actually complied. The Civil Aeronautics Board set every fare, approved every route, and blocked new airlines so incumbents never faced real competition. In 1977, he put economist Alfred Kahn in charge specifically to dismantle that power, then signed the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act with a hard deadline of January 1, 1985. The CAB ceased to exist that morning. New carriers entered, fares collapsed, and domestic flying more than doubled because airlines finally had to compete instead of petition a board. Most agencies grow every year and treat sunset dates as suggestions. This one kept it.

2026.09.02 16:44

Jimmy Carter ordered a federal agency to abolish itself and it actually complied. The Civil Aeronautics Board set every fare, approved every route, and blocked new airlines so incumbents never faced real competition. In 1977, he put economist Alfred Kahn in charge specifically to dismantle that power, then signed the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act with a hard deadline of January 1, 1985. The CAB ceased to exist that morning. New carriers entered, fares collapsed, and domestic flying more than doubled because airlines finally had to compete instead of petition a board. Most agencies grow every year and treat sunset dates as suggestions. This one kept it.