Whiners = customers who buy cheap advance purchase fares.

If NW can convince you to go elsewhere and attract somebody else who usually buys last-minute and might otherwise be stuck with a middle seat on CO or UA, they'd gladly make that swap.

And since most of us FTers do OLCI at the 24 hour mark anyway, I really don't see how this is so terrible. Yes, it was bad when they wanted us to pay $15 for seats we should be able to access as elites (and keep our $15 even if we got upgraded afterward). But allowing nonelites to give them $15 and allowing last-minute purchasers to have a shot at getting a decent seat makes good sense. This is a constructive move, not a detrimental one.