So far so good. That is not, however, the entire story.

Which has to do, not so much about flying being cheap, but about the perception of being cheap. The whole business of unbundling and penny pinching for seat assignment, checked luggage and the like came out of the effect of search engines looking for the lowest fare. Obviously with no consideration of what is included, or not. And airlines, AC in particular, seems to have figured out that the more miserable they make the experience, the happiest these folks are. Because it convinvces them that the price was right.

And people who fly for work and whose employer will not cover reasonably comfortable travel costs are falling through the cracks. They used to be the airlines bread and butter, with leisure travellers just filling up empty seat at prices barely above marginal costs. Nowadays, bread and butter is divided between high end and rock bottom fares, and people travelling for work whose employer does not care to treat decently end up with the latter. And they are understandably pissed off. Whether they should blame airlines or their employer seems to be the topic of a different thread.

We just flew back from Europe. J was full. Y was full. PY, more than half empty. Price of PY is roughly what economy would cost ten or fifteen years ago. What does that tell you?