
Is It Bad Business for Airlines to Stick It to Their Customers So Badly? - walterbell
http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2016/08/21/bad-business-airlines-stick-customers-badly/
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toomanybeersies
It is absolutely bad business. I'd happily (and do) pay ~10% more to fly with
a more pleasant airline, and I know many people who are the same.

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astronautjones
I would give blood for JetBlue based on my experiences with them in the past,
but now that I live in a major city that they don't (read: cant) serve, I have
to deal with the options our system has afforded me, and often pay a premium
to fly on other countries' national airlines that are regulated by their
citizens.

This article is pretty shallow, but points to a common problem we see in
software, with much larger overhead. As you grow to a point where you're
serving something close to a majority of consumers as the lone option, and you
have corporate "responsibilities"(i long for a better term, as doing that is
not responsible in a general sense) how do you cater to those who are less
vital financially? It's just infeasible to do that for airlines trying to turn
a profit. I often imagine the Eisenhower plan being deployed under current
umbrella, and end with the idea that I'd probably have to change transport
seven times if I wanted to drive coast to coast.

I know for Delta, for example, I have at least ten friends that have been
stranded for over 12 hours (and up to 36) by problems either logistical or
technical. And only those with sizeable Twitter followers are able to shame
the company into action... Airlines have to distinguish, because the cost of
service to the provider is so wildly high. It's probably the most opposite
support model of software, but in the deregulated age, we can't expect
anything less. It's nigh time that we let the state ensure equal
transportation for everyone. Don't get me started on the cost of passports

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toomanybeersies
Passports are about the same cost in New Zealand as the USA. To be honest, if
you can't afford a passport, you can't afford to travel overseas. A passport
costs as much as a one way trip to Australia.

You don't need a passport to travel domestically in the USA do you?

