The eight-hour trip between Salt Lake and Los Angeles now takes an hour and a half even counting all the nosing around on the ground (although an argument can be made that a typical coach seat may not be that much more comfortable than sitting on the mail bags).
Yet average fuel burn has been falling every year since 1960 and continues at a strong pace—in the first decade of the 21st century, fuel efficiency on domestic flights increased by another 40 percent. The airlines recognized that the public has a strong interest in safety, but that it also has a strong interest in other values as well.