You've got some apples to oranges stuff in there, so let's make it a little easier to compare:
Here's a price comparison:
I looked at three of the four modes available to get from Dallas to Chicago this weekend. I didn't include driving.
You included just 1-ways for the Train and Bus options, but round-trips for the airlines, so we'll double the cost of the Train and Bus options for more accurate comparisons:
Amtrak: Limited schedule. 1way = $173. Duration: 23:34
So, $346 to go by train round-trip.
Greyhound: Slightly less limited. 1way = $164 (refundable). Duration: 20:50
$328 to go by bus, round-trip.
American Airlines (DFW-ORD): Good schedule availability. Roundtrip = $781. Duration: 2:15 (non-stop).
Legacy carrier, $781 a little more than double what it costs to go by bus or train.
Southwest (DAL-MDW): Good schedule, all one-stop, some change plane, limited availability. Roundtrip = $523. Duration: 3:30 depending on the stop.
Not even double what it costs to go by bus or train.
UAL (DFW-ORD): pretty good schedule, OK availability. Rountrip = 558. Duration: 2:15 or so.
Legacy carrier in trouble, selling somewhere between another Legacy and the LCC with a lot of frequency in and out of Chicago, cost not even double what it takes for bus or train.
So, what you're telling us is that most airlines are only DOUBLE what it takes to ride by bus or train, even though the cost to PRODUCE that seat is likely 5-7 times as much.
So Greyhound and Amtrak cover their costs and turn a profit, which is what any responsible company should do, and the airlines don't (or can't).
Travel times aren't the point here,,, the point is that deregulation has failed. Not because it's not providing me with a job (I'm surviving just fine and still flying, although I'd love to be back in an airliner for the schedule and career earning potential), but mainly because AIRLINES REFUSE TO COVER THEIR COSTS.
They either can't or won't price the product to at least break-even or better, then rely on the government protection of bankruptcy to bail on all their obligations, refinance their debt, screw their employees, then start all over and do the bankruptcy dance again and again and again.
That's not a successful industry; to even try to defend deregulation is preposterous. Yes, it gave us cheap fares for a huge number of Americans, but at what cost in the end? How many BILLIONS has all the airline bankruptcies, shutdown carriers and associated job losses, and personal bankruptcies as a result, cost the American public over the last 20 years?
Is re-regulation the answer? I wish I could say so, simply because I know the American government wouldn't allow the wholesale reduction in capacity needed to correct ticket prices. The citizens would scream bloody murder, and demand their "right" to airline travel. However, if you just removed the safety net of bankruptcy for airlines, enough of them would fail that the same thing would happen, and you'd simply have a lot of unemployed ex-airline employees, huge financial messes at GE Cap and other lending monsters, and tens of thousands of p*ssed U.S. citizens that demand their "right" to airline travel.
Either way is bloody. Pick one.
