United Airlines bowing to customer demands?

More importantly, we may finally be seeing a crack in the armor of the overall airline industry s stranglehold on both personal and business travel. In the United States, it s a completely open secret that the airlines operate as a shadow trust entity. They match each other s fees, changes to seating design and accommodations to the point where it s impossible to deny that they are coordinating their policies. They have long since divided up the nation between them with each airline operating their own primary hub cities to cut down on competition. Sadly, the government has never demonstrated the ability or interest to investigate such price-fixing schemes.

But all of that was done when flights for all major airlines were booked to the brim. There was plenty of cash to go around, so there was no need to bother trying to undercut the competition by offering better service or cheaper prices. In fact, as seats grew smaller and closer together, one could plausibly argue that they were all intentionally making air travel less comfortable in order to spur people to spend more for upgraded seating. And if travelers groused about it, so what? The airlines were the only game in town so they could get away with it.

via hotair.com

It’s an ill wind that blows no good.