One of the late President Jimmy Carter’s most notable contributions that shaped modern-day America was his work to transform the commercial airline industry.
While Carter is known for his various humanitarian, economic and unity efforts, one of his major efforts was championing deregulation for the commercial airline industry in order to elevate the passenger experience and create affordable air travel for the average American worker.
The former president signed the bipartisan Airline Deregulation Act on Oct. 24, 1978, to prohibit “states from regulating the price, route or service of an air carrier for the purposes of keeping national commercial air travel competitive.”
After the bill was signed into law, airlines were allowed to select their own routes and determine how much they would charge passengers in air travel fares.
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After removing federal control of the airline industry, economists Robert Crandall of the Brookings Institution and Jerry Ellig of George Mason University reported in 1997 that the savings landed at around $40 billion and $60 billion per year, nearly one percent of national income.
During a May address to a mental health forum at the Carter Center in Atlanta, grandson Jason Carter said his grandfather was “doing OK” and continued to appreciate the “outpouring of love” his family has received since the death of his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter.
“My grandfather is doing okay. He has been in hospice, as you know, for almost a year and a half now, and he really is, I think, coming to the end,” Jason Carter said at The 28th Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum. “I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him, and there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end and I think he has been there in that space.”
Carter was sworn in as the 39th President of the United States in 1977 and was the oldest president to ever live, at 100 years old when he passed.
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“I’ve had a wonderful life, I have thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting and adventurous and gratifying existence,” Carter had previously said while reflecting on his life.
Serving as governor of Georgia in 1975, Carter decided to take his political career a step further: to the White House. The Democrat defeated then-incumbent President Gerald Ford, in a race won by 297 to 241 electoral votes.
From early on, he always had a compassionate heart and leaned into his Christian faith throughout his entire life, a trait that left an impactful mark on his presidency and life after leaving office.
“I, obviously, prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I just asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. And I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death. It didn’t really matter to me whether I died or lived,” Carter said, according to CBS News.
“I have, since that time, been absolutely confident that my Christian faith includes complete confidence in life after death. So, I’m going to live again after I die — Don’t know what form I’ll take, or anything, but I have confidence that there is a God, and he is all powerful, and he keeps his promises, and he promises life after death.”
The former president passed away at age 100 on Sunday after moving to hospice care in February 2023 to spend his remaining time at home.
Fox Business’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
