Sadly, this milking will continue because the airlines are being allowed to consolidate, both domestically and internationally so that they become mammoth "powerhouses" that are "too big to fail". There is a resonance with the big banks...in their arrogance and abuse of customers.
The only remedy is for a break up of the massive "hub" monopolies, with no airline permitted to have more than 25% of any share of the local market. Until something is done to promote genuine competition, this abuse of customers will continue. You are right to boycott AA, and I hope you will write to them and tell them why. The problem is, with a few exceptions, there are almost no carriers left to flee too...
Continental, under it's previous CEO, was perhaps one of the few legacy carriers with some customer focus. Sadly, this too seems to have been lost and will be gone forever, when the huge monolith that is United/Continental becomes reality and allows for even more customer abuse.
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