And if they get on that mid-day flight, there were seats that were unsold at any fare, not just the higher fare. Thus, they're not displacing higher revenue passengers from that mid-day flight, but providing more revenue from that flight.

Plus, they're freeing up a seat on a later flight that the airline still has time to sell. It that seat gets sold, more revenue is produced. If not, it's merely a transfer of revenue from one flight to another.

So where's the "lost" revenue if you just let them get on the earlier flight if there's a seat?

As far as I'm concerned, this is one of those ideas that sounds good in a sound-bite, but falls apart under closer examination. Other than "revenue enhancement" from those $25 charges, of course.

Jim