>>>>>-- NW made some deals with some large companies to provide what were essentially Y-UP fares. There was about six months were getting an upgrade was a chancy thing on many flights.


This is wholly understandable with an airline trying to battle its way out of bankruptcy. Giving the F seats to generate a raft of revenue makes sense, in a quick fix sort of way.

Though it does "shift" the spectrum of what has been the previous strategy for driving revenue (i.e., customer loyalty; years of elitehood) in a rather rude, abrupt, and unannounced sort of way, if this is indeed what is happening.