Originally Posted by
bldr1k
I have no evidence he is a horrible business person. No company succeeds by optimizing and cutting alone. They have to invest to attract/retain customers. Unfortunately the entire travel industry seems to have lost its way with cutting and optimizing. Oscar seemed to understand both - I'm not sure about Kirby though. Nobody I know likes what Kirby did at American.
Not sure it's accurate to say the travel industry has "lost its way." Generally speaking, companies give customers what they want for the price they're willing to pay. As much as people complain about both airlines and hotels, the numbers don't show any reduction in business. Until customers vote with their feet in much larger numbers, nothing will change for the better.