Originally Posted by
Beltway2A
At the end of the day, it's a lot "cheaper" to screw over a passenger and violate your contract with that passenger (plus any minor DOT slap on the wrist) than violate the CBA with the pilots. The math may have worked out differently if US pax had EU261 style protections, but ultimately in this case the lack of any regulatory consequences made it a no-brainer to screw over the passenger.
I'm not sure you understand how total compensation works. If you suddenly lost all your vacation/sick days or your health insurance, but didn't gain any extra salary, would it be totally fine because you didn't "pay" for the privilege of it?
Losing the benefits you mention would be major hit and I don't wish that on anybody. In my provine those benefits are guaranteed by law. First class travel with bumping privileges is not.
There is a major difference between losing your health insurance and stepping back a couple of rows, losing a couple of inches of space in the process.
Pilots have earned the privilege of flying upfront and I think they should be entitled to any open F seat, not bumping an already seated customer. Let the airline make an offer to the customers; if your offer is high enough someone will bite and everyone will be happy. All the government would have to do is make it optional for a customer to move seats.