When social conflict takes over the skies. A socio-legal perspective on reduced accessibility driven by the low fare business model in air transportation

From its inception, commercial air transport has been on the rise, and only exceptional events such as COVID-19 have managed to slow down growth rates. Over its development, this branch of transportation has adapted to several niches, adapting business models and even aircraft types/configurations accordingly. Two leading business models presently exist, and hybrid models have also been reported in the airline market: each model fills a very specific operational niche. However, after a detailed analysis of transportation procedures and requirements, it has become clear that a major gap in regulation leads to situations where certain passenger categories are de facto excluded from air travel. Based on the main fundamentals of social rights, as well as modern approaches for the evaluation of social conflict, this work highlights how the legitimacy behind the coexistence of multiple airline business models in the free market cannot prevent the requirement for just and well-defined regulations in air transportation ensuring the right to fly to nearly all passenger categories, thus satisfying many critical travel needs. Without such regulations, the skies become a “savage space”, a field of battle of a new form of social conflict where the principle of the strongest prevails. Without a proper understanding and management of this conflict, the final outcome is tangible: the exclusion – or the reduction – of the legitimate right to mobility for entire passenger categories, many of which are affected by specific medical conditions.