This same argument was made about sports complexes and the Internet as a whole. Enshittification is a real thing, and this is exactly the sort of move that drives it.

Sure they’ll still provide service, but you’ll be data mined, forced to watch and respond to ads, services will be gutted, security will be even more theatre than it already is — because there’s no alternative. This is a monopoly stake.

HOWEVER, for the select few, there will be private airport services for those who can pay. These services will avoid this race to the bottom until the larger service collapses under borrowing against future growth for current profits.

Why am I so sure of all this?

Because that’s how this playbook has ALWAYS played out. Every. Single. Time. And somewhere in there, regulatory capture rears its head as well.

[–] keyhoh@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Maybe you're right, but then people just won't go, or they'll go to alternative airports which have now been invested in thanks to the influx of capital from the big four airports.

To think you're not already all of those things is naive, I'm sorry to say. There's already tons of ads around airports. You're already surveiled. Your info is collected and sold to companies. And, there is already a nicer tier for those willing to pay.

What this sounds like to me is more of the same, maybe to a higher degree, but we'll have infrastructure in the end.

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

So which airports well they go to? You know not every airport has international flights and this well not change that.

[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

How do people go to alternative airports?

For example, the closest airport to YVR is Abbotsford. Except it doesn’t service the same routes. So you end up having to drive to Seattle, Calgary or Edmonton to fly to… Seattle, Calgary or Edmonton?

The other airports listed have similar issues; for the services they provide, they are a regional monopoly.