Before Pan-Am went bust, here is a documentary about Braniff Airlines which started back in the 1920’s. Former Southwest airlines president Howard Putnam joined Braniff Airlines tries to save the company from the brink of bankruptcy to no avail. As a result of the restructure, Braniff Airlines is the first major airline to file for bankruptcy and shut down immediately. Think WOW airlines in todays terms .
The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 prohibits states from regulating the price, route or service of an air carrier for the purposes of keeping national commercial air travel competitive. Air carriers that provide air ambulance services are also protected from state regulation of their price, route and service as well.