An article in your Dec. 24 paper has the headline "Ouch! Salt Lake airfares soar." The article indicated the local price of flying has increased 16.9 percent over the past decade, with a number of other locations even lower. If this is even remotely true, the local airline industry instead deserves compliments for keeping the annual average compounded increase to approximately 1.6 percent. This has been accomplished even while dealing with the extra security costs due to terrorism.
The words "ouch" and "soar" should be reserved for industries that frankly make these adjectives seem weak. My family health insurance premiums have increased 84.7 percent over the past five years alone. My house insurance premium increased 106.1 percent over the past five years.
I find similar premium increases and reduced coverage elsewhere. I suspect that folks actually making claims have it even worse. Getting to the bottom of these outlandish premium increases in the insurance industry would be a far greater service. This is the "plain" story the public needs, not the other "plane" story.
V. Clark Richardson
Kaysville