Technology

I mean at the same time, if it's possible that regular people who actually shop around are shown lower fares and business travelers paid for by the company are shown higher fares, I'm all for that sort of subsidization, as unlikely as it is to be the reality

That will start a discussion

How can I tell you've never actually flown.

I'm not sure if that kind of defeatism is useful, but I understand why you'd resort to it. I think a better way to articulate this is, "the means of recourse we agree to use is no longer effective." I also really don't know if small businesses can be regularly trusted to be considerate of ethics. Under a capitalist system, this behaviour is not only allowed but encouraged since it is fundamentally an unethical way to organize.

Luigi is in the news recently, and it's worth noting that United Healthcare rolled back some aggressive claim denial policies when the safety of its executives was threatened. There are many extralegal options available in terms of sabotage or, as other users in this thread has mentioned, staging demonstrations on planes that are priced on this model to disrupt plane travel, or starting protest campaigns at corporate buildings, homes of executives, etc. If you prefer something that remains within liberal institutions, state-level movements to define AI as price fixing would likely have an easier time to gain popular traction since AI is widely hated at this point.

This isn't to say you can't complain without volunteering to shoot Delta's CEO, but just that responding to this with, "the govt isn't doing anything which means nothing can be done," exemplifies the sort of learned helplessness that characterizes American neoliberal politics at a street level.

Not when on the other side is "jump through these hoops and give us this data for a $40 discount!!!!"

They're leveraging information asymmetry. It's as one-sided as it can get.

Airlines these days make more money off of points/credit card shenanigans than they do off of moving passengers on planes, and it shows.

There is something wrong with capitalism, its a tool for the rich to exploit workers and consolidate wealth and power.

Fixed that for you

The poor care about making money. The rich care about telling others what they can do and how to live

airlines are more or less banks with a weird way of withdrawing

The problem is that the theory of supply and demand requires the assumption that buyers and sellers are rational actors, and if there's one thing the last 25 years has taught the corpocrats, it's that humans are not rational, and are easily manipulated.

The other thing they learned is that, if you don't want to face regulation, you just need to buy the government. They already knew this, but now the process is perfected.

This is a result of having so much economic inequality. Having a few people who are so much more rich than everyone else fucks up the price ceilings for everyone.

the Federal Trade Commission Act expressly excludes “air carriers and foreign air carriers” from the Commission’s Section 5 authority over unfair or deceptive practices.

And while several states are passing laws on the matter, those are expressly preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act.

Regulations don't apply to them for... reasons

Tell me aobut it. I took a trip last year to Arizona - paid for by a relative that bought me a first class seat. Now it's been almost 30 years since I've travelled first class and I was shocked.. It was coach, with a dinner. The seats were what USED to be the coach seats. Just as crowded, just as uncomfortable and the food was on-par with an equity-run hoaspital. Fuck. That. Shit. Next time I go out west, am taking extra days for travel and getting a sleeper room on Amtrak. The trains have seats like the airlines used to.. big, wide, recline and comfy.