Airlines should not hide cost of tickets from flying public

Dallas Morning News: It's not enough that airlines employ the most byzantine pricing structure known to humankind; now some older, traditional carriers want to be able to hide part of the real cost when they advertise their fares. Say, for instance, enticing you to buy a ticket at a certain "fare" and then adding on a "fuel surcharge."
Like you're going to fly on a plane that carries no fuel, right? Isn't that a little like saying the hamburger is 99 cents, but the meat is $2 extra?
Yes, life is tough for the older airlines, which must withstand the ever-increasing onslaughts of the low-cost carriers. No one is eager to see more U.S. airlines slip into bankruptcy or go out of business. But the last time we looked, a good business model did not rest on tricking the consumer -- and, frankly, that's what this proposal smacks of.
There are reasons most Americans would rate buying a car right up there with getting a root canal. Do airlines really want their customers to feel that way about buying a ticket?
Bottom-line costs
Besides, Web sites such as Expedia and Orbitz undoubtedly know how to add; they can lure even more consumers to their sites by figuring up and publishing the true, bottom-line costs. How does that benefit the airlines?
Part of the rationale for loosening the regulations is that hotels and car rental companies are allowed to exclude some portions of the cost when advertising their prices. "Airlines should be treated like everybody else," Robin Urbanski, a spokeswoman for United Airlines, told The New York Times.
Good point. Why not make all those companies disclose the bottom line, right up front?
The decision rests in the hands of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. Those in the know say he's likely to OK the looser rules.
Part of the department's mission is to bolster the nation's commercial transportation networks. If he thinks this is one way to do that, he's wrong. Truth in advertising isn't just good ethics. In the long run, it's good business.