Is it necessary for US flag Airlines to turn coach class into a cattle car,nickle & diming us bec they goofed?

Question

The fully-worded Q is this: Is it necessary for US flag Airlines to turn coach class into a cattle cars, nickle & diming us to death just because they goofed?

Answer 1

They didn't necessarily goof.....Americans are cheap, and paying way to much for gas!!

Answer 2

An airline either has to make money or go out of business.

To make money, its revenues have to be more than its expenses.

Fuel costs have gone way up.  The value of the currency that the revenues are in (i.e. the dollar) has gone down.  As their workforce ages, their labor costs go up.  Interest rates on leases for new airplanes have gone up.  I don't really see how any of that counts as having "goofed".

Believe me, they're not nickel-and-diming you because they want to add to their big stack of money stashed in the headquarters building.  They're nickel-and-diming you so they don't go out of business.

I agree that it's not marketed well, but this new nickel-and-diming is actually a good idea.  If I'm flying with a bag and you're flying without a bag, you should pay less than me since you're using less gas.  Consider the alternative.  If the ticket a year ago was $200, which would you rather, that they raise it to $215 for everybody, or that they keep it at $200 but charge $15 if you're checking a bag?  If you're checking a bag, it shouldn't matter to you, you're paying $215 either way.  If you're not checking a bag, you'll be happy that you don't have to pay the extra $15.

Now, one way in which they did goof I will acknowledge for you.  Low fare airlines entering the market with lots of venture capital, saying we'll start out by selling tickets at a loss for a while, just to build up some customer loyalty.  This causes the public to *expect* to be able to find tickets for $50, and due to price elasticity forces the other airlines to lower their prices, and thus causing the entire industry to be operating at a loss.

But there's nothing that can prevent people from starting new airlines.  If you have a billion dollars and want to start an airline, you can do so.  The only solutions are a) re-regulation, which you as a passenger DO NOT want because it will result in way fewer flights and much higher ticket prices, or b) for would-be airline tycoons to wise up and realize it's not a smart industry to enter right now.

Update:  Your point about body weight is extremely valid.  I almost went there myself but decided I was being too wordy already.  I would absolutely support taking body weight into account also, since that affects how much fuel is used.  Of course the ACLU would be all over that quicker than...something that is very quick.  I guess in a nutshell, if it were to truly reflect the cost of transporting a person and their luggage, the ticket pricing formula should take into account:

Miles flown, body weight and bag weight (fuel)

Number of bags (bag loader guy's time)

What you buy on board (consumption of goods, fuel to carry those goods, flight attendant's time in distributing goods)

Gov't taxes, and any fees levied by the airport you're flying to/from, of course (happens today)

Fare increase for buying ticket at last minute? (happens today)

Fare increase or decrease for nonstop versus connection? (generally today nonstop costs the passenger more, while connection costs the airline more...hmm...)

Some money for airline to pay its lease payments and office staff and maybe turn a modest profit