emcampbe

fof sure some of them aren't even break even. There's a reason UA started requiring PQD and changed the earning structure to be. based on $ vs. miles - and now lopping off other benefits on the lowest fares with BE. Other carriers have used other methods to reach similar goals (like giving no or partial miles - both RDM and PQM on lower fares - some even on what I consider pretty mid tier fares (looking at you - SQ)).

Lets be clear UA is far from the leader in this - DL was in the US, but they weren't even true leaders. EU carriers have had years of no seat selection on any Y fares practically within EU and now even on long-haul, LH life fare types, and I think the true leader was AC with Tango fares in about the early 2000s.

Legacy carriers - both UA and their competitors in the US and around the world are all trying to keep premium customers while still trying to remain relevant to those who would just as easily fly with the ULCCs of the world - most of whom didn't exist 10 years ago or did with a much smaller footprint. It's still Too early to tell whether the BE fare type strategy going around in the US right now will work well - if not, they'll figure out something else until they come up with something that does.