re: #353 Big Beautiful Door

Interesting article on the economics of the airline industry. Flying is terrible because the mass of consumers prefer lower ticket prices to a quality flying experience. Airlines that try to provide a quality experience to all flyers and not just first class inevitably go broke because they are out-competed on price. That being said, United probably could’ve avoided the brutality and pr disaster simply by offering volunteers the maximum compensation allowed for bumping, a couple of thousand bucks more.

Southwest Airlines at least makes an effort to properly train and empower their staff to make reasonable decisions. The UAL debacle simply highlights the inevitable outcome a totally toxic culture of service and management.