Competition is there if only government allows. There are people who are not aware that government(s) set the parameters of routes to be flown and who flies them. There are other matters of hours of arrival and departure of aircraft as gates and gate times at airports are up to bid, the highest bidder gets the best gates and time slots. You will observe that some of the discount airlines are the ones who have the very early morning flights and late arrivals at airports, they pay less for those times and pass on the savings(?) to you.
Most airlines are at full capacity of aircraft and flight crews, aircraft are full with few or no empty seats, they have no incentive to offer lower fares when everyone is scrambling for seats. Mind you, the airlines are always looking to find new fees to stick you with. Waiting for them to sell tokens for you to use to get entry to the iron maiden they call a toilet. Note: you cannot pay cash for the tokens, credit card only.
Regards,
PJT