Originally Posted by
No_Name
I really don't see how Delta, or any airline for that matter, would be able to operate in the way some posters advocate without charging significantly higher prices. Increased risk means higher costs, which means higher prices. I prefer to manage the risk of a two hour delay myself and take the reduced air fare as it is a more cost effective solution (from my perspective).
But why do they need to charge more? I do not see the correlation.
If they alter the schedule, passengers should be able to receive their money back and take their business elsewhere. After all, they pay for specific flights at specific times.
If airlines want to keep passengers money, they have two options:
- Strive for operational excellence, better timeliness and organization
- Offer additional perks to passengers to accept a schedule change
With the current set up, where airlines are omnipotent and all-powerful, there's a race to the bottom. We can clearly see this in the US. Service is horrible, no decent meals on trans-continental flights, unhealthy snacks, dirty planes (buses).
When you look East or West where there is REAL competition, you see much improved service and treatment of passengers. Further, the EU regulations now force airlines to be much better at organization and scheduling. KLM for instance is SUPER consistent with times, and they BARELY change schedule. When passengers buy tickets, they know with 99.99% certainty that their flight would occur at a time/day they purchased it for.