The premise that mileage runners hurt airlines is completely illogical. MRs are a boon for airlines. Now I'm not talking folks who keep capitalizing on mistake fares and errors, I'm talking about the vast majority of the small minority that comprise the FT mileage running universe.

Every single ticket a mileage runner purchases is 1 less ticket the airline needs to sell, and sell at that price. You think they're butthurt about higher demand? What kind of silly argument is that? An airline will take 2cpm from a novice traveler as happily as it will from a seasoned mileage runner who thinks he's 'gaming the system'. When the airline has exhausted its supply of lower priced tickets (thanks, mileage runners!), guess what the next step is? They may think of raising the price.

Supply meets Demand. The market clears. We're not gaming them by mileage running, boys. Not even close.

This is the last thing an airline executive will think of when proposing a revenue based program, and those who think otherwise have an overly self-inflated opinion about what their activity means to the airlines.