I wonder how UA's Chief Revenue Officer feels about this:
1. Any gifted/sold PPs result in flyer paying a W fare.
2. Without access to PPs, flyer buys a discounted fare.
3. W fare is often 2x the discounted fare
So the Chief Revenue Officer gets 2x the revenue on tens of thousands of sold/gifted PPs. Yes, UA's VP of MP argues it takes space away from other elites, but as our own pre-covid FT survey has shown, the majority of elites were satisfied with their ability to use their PPs.
Revenue carries the day at most companies. I'd bet UA is similar.