Part of the reason we have a problem is because the government attempted to give people support, and overdid it, triggering inflation. This continued after COVID. We were literally paying people to stay home. Guess what? People are staying home. There's too much money chasing too few goods/services.

As for your McDonald's example, I've noticed that the airport McDonald's charges significantly more than other McDonald's. As they're basically printing money, yeah, I'd expect them to pay more.

I'm all for a market solution. I believe we've stopped giving people lucrative reasons not to work, but for some reason, now they want to pay off student loans, even for those making plenty of money. Stop trying to help, and let the markets work. Let people pay back the money they borrowed.

Here's part of the problem: https://time.com/6111245/young-workers-quitting/ People have decided they don't want to work, and have figured out how they don't need to. Hard to create a consumer out of someone who doesn't think they need anything.

People want shorter lines at the clubs? STOP GOING! Don't buy membership, and don't get a credit card. Poof! They'll be less crowded. But if every time airlines propose a solution people say "But wait, that might affect MY access!" guess what's going to happen?

It's hard for me to blame the airlines for trying to stay in business. But I do think we need to hold them responsible for planning flights. They should know if they have pilots or not.