America has signed 33 open-skies deals around the world, which free airlines to fly where and when they want without government interference.
With airlines free to merge, airport slots bought and sold rather than allocated by committee, and airline bosses free to decide where and when to fly, aviation on the world's busiest international route could have become like any other business, shaped and fostered by market forces.
Most airlines stopped serving free meals in coach on domestic flights after the 2001 terrorist attacks crippled the industry.
Under the "open skies" deal, US airlines would be free to fly to major airports in the European Union and from there to other internal destinations.
The commission is likely to get its way eventually, but it may be some time before airlines are truly free to fly where they want within and from Europe.
So when we found out that Continental Airlines was offering free WiFi service to members of its frequent flier service at Boston-Logan International Airport, needless to say, we were pretty stoked.
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Alaska Airlines flights will offer free connections in August and September for passengers surfing via smartphone.
The other was to set the reservation systems free to become (as the airlines see it) profit-gobbling monsters that devour their parents.
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On Friday Chinese carrier Spring Airlines cancelled a promotion offering free tickets from Shanghai to Saga prefecture in Japan following outcry from netizens.
Credit cards for Delta and Continental Airlines now offer cardholders one free checked bag for up to nine people when reservations are charged to these cards.
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That said, big, headline-grabbing deals between U.S. airlines could go the way of free checked bags.
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The Department of Transportation tried to decree that airlines create a "peanut-free buffer zone" for passengers who request it.
And indeed these previously free services have generated substantial incremental revenue for the airlines.
Rather than raise fares, airlines began charging for services that had been free, from the obvious (baggage handling) to more subtle (standby travel on an earlier flight ).
If it is only the difference of a few dollars, try to book with the airlines in one alliance to gather enough points for free flights.
AirAsia's competitor, Malaysia Airlines, started flying last year year with child-free first class cabins as well as a child-free upper deck economy section on its A380 service.
"BAA provides a free service up to the point of check-in when the airlines take over and they provide assistance from the check-in to the aircraft", a BAA spokeswoman told BBC News Online.
Airlines were sued over serving peanuts, and schools declared nut-free lunch tables.
Delta Airlines recently announced it was partnering with Amazon to provide passengers with free access to shop the online retail giant's website onboard all of Delta and Delta Connection flights with in-flight Wi-Fi service.
We're not likely to ever see that, said Teal Group aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia, because airlines are planning to fill the big space with seats, not duty-free shops.
Adding to the complexity: Several airlines, including American and United, don't let travelers add children flying free on a parent's lap to reservations online.
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It is said that the requirement for America's Amtrak to become free of operating subsidy by early 2004 is largely the result of competition from low-cost airlines.
Today the railway system has shrunk, the two main airlines have merged and a series of trade deals, culminating in the North American Free-Trade Agreement, have, since 1988, increased trade with the United States to some 87% of Canada's exports.
Some fliers set clocks to request free tickets at midnight 331 days, or about 11 months, before departure traditionally the moment airlines open a flight for booking only to find no seats available on popular flights.
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