The average size of aircraft grew until the late 1990s however, this trend began to change as carriers shifted their primary focus to profits as opposed to market share. Strong competition among airlines prompted ticket prices to fall in recent years. As a result, carriers dramatically reduced costs and aggressively expanded their networks. The assumption reached by many carriers was that in order to become more flexible, a smaller aircraft must be used to reach many regional airports rather than larger aircraft that can only access hub airports in major cities.'