I agree, it's a protection for the airlines and we should get rid of it.
It is a form of setting a cap on prices or a limit. It does not set prices.
In the article Delta freely agrees to prices with passengers typically well below $1350. Those are all free market transactions.
I am sorry if you and Mott have some sort of knee jerk reaction to the term "free market" but orthodox economists don't share your (Marxists?... idk probably just ignorance) bias.
no - they are not free market transactions - the market was not free - the airlines knew they did not have to exceed $1,350 - that is textbook opposite of how market prices work. You can't use the term free market for how this works