[AADFW]

Judge, I've been an observer of (and occasional poster to) this board for quite some time now. Over the past two years, I have noticed a distinct pattern among certain "non-airline employee" posters who seem relentless in their defense of increasingly outrageous behavior on the part of domestic U.S. commercial airline employees. It seems reasonable to assume that these few but extremely active posters are motivated by factors that most members of the flying public do not - and should not - share with them. I think what the moderator did here was an effective and appropriate means of mitigating the resulting ongoing imbalance.

I have lived outside the United States for some time now, and I have experienced firsthand what good airline service is. For example, I recently paid US$200 for a round-trip economy ticket in Asia. The consistently friendly, helpful service was great throughout, and during the 5-hour return flight I enjoyed a fantastic hot meal complete with gourmet chocolate and ice cream. My wine glass was refilled four times with good French Bordeaux. The airline in question is known to be profitable both overall and on this particular route, which has at least three active competitors.

My point is this: the critical difference in this region versus the U.S. seems to be that consumers are far less willing to save $20 or $50 in favor of enduring poor service. Over and over again, fliers in the United States have voted with their wallets - and low price of fare has prevailed. Airlines fully recognize this and have responded accordingly by establishing lower and lower acceptable service baselines and fee-based revenue models. In a most unfortunate way, we, the flying public, have done this unto ourselves. Some sensible degree of re-regulation may ultimately prove the best vehicle to remedy this problem. The airlines refuse to accept universally higher costs as the status quo because, even though they would be a level regulatory playing field, they would decrease overall industry revenues. Industry lobbyists campaign tirelessly on Capital Hill to prevent this, yet the airlines still loudly insist that they're not greedy.

I digress. People have a right to complain, but the more important thing for each of us to take action. Call your congressional representatives. File lawsuits. Contact the local media when you've been badly wronged by an airline and have them cover the story. Forums like this are a good way to build the momentum needed for the public to do these things on a more consistent, wide-scale basis. When confederates, or people who are irrational in their views (for whatever reason) distort the horrific realities endured by frequent fliers in the United States today, it undermines the spirit and ethos of this board. I fully understand the moderator's motives, and I applaud his actions. In fact, I'd offer him a standing ovation.