Cheap flights?

There should be some sort of price regulations on airlines. I was browsing for tickets and within an hour the tickets I was going to book jumped $35 each. Found the tickets I wanted, got a phone call and by the time I got off the phone and reloaded the page I took a $70 hit to book the same plane I was going to book before the call. Ridiculous.

In what other industry do prices fluctuate as much as airlines do? What is their excuse for a flight on the same plane to the same location at the same time only a day apart sometimes jumping hundreds of dollars in 24hrs? Or prices for the specific tickets changing by the hour, basically.

You can sometimes fly across the world for cheaper than you can fly half way across the U.S.. None of it makes sense. /rant