In the past 5 to 10 years domestic carriers have eliminated complimentary inflight food services, magazines, blankets, pillows, checked baggage, mileage-only upgrades from any published fare, no-fee telephone reservation services, APO upgrades and fee waivers for customer service problems, extra legroom seats (AA), certain customer training initiatives, etc. At the same time, fees for nearly everything under the sun have skyrocketed.
Airline managers made these changes because Aunt Sally in Omaha decided that she'd rather fly with XYZ carrier because their fare was $10 lower. Low fares became a zero sum game, so the model has changed.
As you've already pointed out, people will often endure horrible treatment to save just a little money. That's what's driving the service levels.
Last edited by AADFW; May 17, 2011 at 4:07 PM.
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