Thought that might attract some attention.

Twenty-twenty five years ago airlines provided great service. Seats were sizable and food was pretty good. Planes had room on them. Passengers were pretty happy. Frequent flyers were often upgraded, because airlines kept track of such things. I did a lot of flying then and that is how I remember it!

Service was also great at car rental companies. Lines were short to rent a car. If they were ever to get long one just slid over to the next company and rented from them.

It was easy to vote with our feet, as we were not vested in a bunch of ff this and that. You could walk over to another counter and take their flights without losing anything.

About a dozen plus years ago the ff programs started. We were on the "high". Free this and that. Special treatment. Our employer paid for our travel, but we got all the benefits. Families would get "free" vacations based on our business flying, car rental and hotel programs. The "high" spread. Eventually, to pay for this the airlines started to let service slide. Seats got smaller as did aisles. Food service and quality started to slide (or disappear). The number of FA on a plane was reduced (on a per passanger seat basis). Then the lines at check in got longer.

More recently everything has slid. Often hard to get your choice for point travel times and places. Air rage. Congressional oversite.

Through all this the number of travelers has grown and the skies are full of planes. But the airlines fight with price (the price matching duels) and service goes to h-ll. The "new" flyers were converts for buses and did not expect any service. They never saw how it was. That is why Southwest (the flying bus) is so popular and has a high rating. If you expect almost nothing, then you will be surprised how well Southwest will fill your wishes. Long lines, not food, just flying buses that keep on schedule.

Why has this happened? I believe it is because of ff programs. Most of the people on this board are the "haves or the rich" in this story. We love the "high" and are completely hooked. We complain about the service problems but it is ok as long as we get our "fix". Free upgrades, special attention, free flights, club memberships, and the like has us (me) too spoiled to spend too much time remembering when flying was fun and comfortable and service oriented.

That is how I see it. Plenty of room for others though.