Originally Posted by
pbarnette
Have fun finding somebody that doesn't charge fees for near-term tickets.
I think it is important to distinguish between industry-wide trends and program-specific changes. Close-in fees are an example of industry-wide trends. Of course, the close-in fees may be cause for abandoning the game entirely, but switching to another carrier doesn't really do much for you.
Of course these fees are an industry-wide trend. Doesn't make it right.
Besides, DL mgmt had a chance to
prove that they were the best in the industry, not just another carrier, a mere lemming following other lemmings. They could have made a bold statement to their pax and the general flying public that their fees were lower than other carriers. They refused to do so, and in fact went the other way - higher fees than many other carriers - and are thus part of the problem, not the solution. Supposedly, DL absorbed NW to become the best/biggest carrier around, offering pax great business value out of the consolidation and its inherent economies of scale, and attracting net new customers. So much for that. DL is now behaving as the
biggest carrier, to be sure, much in the fashion of the biggest bully in school, daring anyone to fight back.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.