UA cannot afford to fire any customer (so all that "They don't want us!" They don't care about us!" melodrama is nonsense). But they are trying to do as little for each customer as possible and have gone too far on multiple fronts, from elite benefits and amenities to operational depth to irrops recovery resources. This is a profit maximization strategy, but it only works if there are no other airlines in the world. I expect the dynamic analysis that falls out of their strategy has shocked Smisek, who came from an airline that succeeded by putting the screws to three captive / hostage hubs.