Quite simply, they don't care. Like a lot of people in service businesses today, the airlines have decided the good times will roll forever, and they are not concerned about burning bridges. From bad service to high fares, they are full speed ahead. The government is trying to give them pause to slow it down by restraining the air traffic system, but they ignore that and continue to overschedule, gumming things up even more. You want to ship a pet, that now goes from $50 to up to 5 times that. Want to change a return on a discount....no more $75...now it's $75 plus a refare of the entire trip, often making such changes as costly as the whole original ticket. Upgrades and awards...all last minute, as they hold more and more inventory out, rendering the lower tiers of elite status almost useless. Stay tuned...it only gets worse. Like the addict on drugs, the travelling public is hooked on flying everywhere....and that means bottoms in the seats. They've simply tailored the product to the demand they have created, and unless you're dumb enough (or have no choice) to pay as much for a round trip in coach to the coast as you did for your first car, they really aren't interested.

[This message has been edited by deelmakur (edited 08-11-2000).]