While these European legacy carriers were dominant in their home market, airline deregulation had made them susceptible to competition from low-cost carriers, which pushed down ticket prices and margins on short-haul fares. As well, many of these airlines also operated with higher labor costs than low-cost players or emerging market competitors - years of union advocacy, pension fund obligations, and industry regulations forced these airlines to devote a larger share of revenues towards labor benefits, Finally, low margins and perceived saturation within the market had forced major players to consolidate as a growth strategy, thereby reaping efficiencies of scale - heavyweights such as KLM-Air France, British Airways and lberia, and the more recent United-Continental, Delta-Northwest, and even Southwest-AirTran were all testament to this trend. Finally, the downside of a longer operating history manifested itself in a generally older fleet than emerging market competitors, which impacted everything from passenger experience to fuel efficiency.