The GWP is designed to give us a seat only when Frontier can't sell the seat at ANY price. No airline is a charity that provides free travel. The price we pay is all taxes except for a penny. Frontier would rather sell the seat for $1, $100, or $220 than to sell it to GWP. We GWP passholders are worse than the average cash customer because GWP customers tend to be savvier and are more unlikely to pay for any upsells like seat selection, drinks, and bags which is why even a $1, $19, or $29 customer is way better than GWP. Despite Frontier's best efforts, there are still flights that can't sell before departure So that's why I gamble $299 or $349 for the ability to buy one penny seats that can't be sold to anyone before departure.
100% accurate.
It's really easy to get so caught up in the marketing and spin telling us that the airline--or ANY corporation--actually cares about us, is providing a valuable benefit, etc. that we forget their true purpose is just to get as much money as possible out of us. At the end of the day, corporations exist solely to 1) make a profit, 2) maximize that profit and 3) maximize it again to the absolute extreme. That goal compels them to get every last possible cent out of every single interaction, which is why a full price ticket > $39 ticket > $15 ticket > $1 ticket > loyalty elite > GWP. It's just how modern businesses operate, especially in the US.
That said, more and more corporations ARE running programs that are borderline scams in pursuit of that maximized profit. Whether or not GWP is one of them is, in my opinion, subjective.