Between industry consolidation and fortressing at hubs leading to most flyers having few reasonable choices for carrier for individual trips, and even fewer for frequent flyers that need a network that serves multiple destinations from their home city efficiently, government bailouts, and an increasingly rigorous regulatory environment, the US airline industry much more closely resembles utilities than any other sector (and with correspondingly similar multiples).

US Airline shareholders know they're buying into an industry with mostly capped upside (again reflected in the poor multiples names in the space have) in exchange for a huge moat against new entrants and protectionist regulatory policies that effectively result in near monopolies.

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the airlines, like utilities and other forms of common carriers where customers generally have little or no choice, to have robust backups plans and training to implement those plans, ensuring uninterrupted service to the extent possible. It should not be reliant on customers to book backup flights on multiple carriers, which is not only burdensome for customers but also creates an entire host of new problems and unintended consequences (and violates the "intent to fly" section of CoCs).