At first glance, players in the US airline industry appear to belong to an enviable industry, full of fascinating advantages and a solid business model. However, the analysis paints a different story. Digging deeper reveals significant problems with little scope for industry-wide solutions, thus making the sector unattractive. Rivalry is one of the main problems in this industry. While rivalry typically doesn't doom an industry, the airline industry is too dependent on the ability to dictate prices on the most popular routes to increase overall profitability. Airlines depend on these routes, called "city pairs", to attract customers as they become popular with each other. Airlines enter these routes, hoping to attract these customers, which makes too many seats available for these city pairs, thus causing supply to exceed demand. To compete, airlines lower fares, many times to the point of eliminating profitability. The airlines are therefore unable to withdraw from the city pair because they would risk losing too many customers who they can hopefully build loyalty with so as to fly with them profitably. ...