Originally Posted by
jimbo99
Think CLRANKIN has hit the nail on the head.
My comment is that the only "fair" way out of this from a PAX point of view is names in a hat.
But really, the "fairest" thing is to accept that whatever the confirmation, you are never contractually guaranteed a seat on a particular flight. Airline managers are employed to maximise profit for shareholders (or whatever other objectives might be set by owners which may be different in the case of state airlines). It would be "unfair" if they gave into their emotions instead of doing their jobs to the best of their ability - which probably means they should give priority to the highest revenue generating passengers that have the greatest propensity to switch to other airlines in the future if they have a bad experience. Anything less would not be fair to their masters.
Is it fair for an airline, or any other business, to take two customers who have paid identical price for identical service, and give better service to a customer who has the option of switching to other airlines, worse service to a customer who lacks this option?
Though it of course is something which optimizes profits!