"In your travelling life” doesn’t seem to have included the modern global airline industry"
regretfully I still seem to spend an awful lot of time flying about the globe....................
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TBH things have changed and keep changing - I can remember when the height of sophistication was a pull down screen on the forward bulkhead to watch an out of focus movie. That has improved - but check-in and security have become far worse. Real prices have plummeted - but so have standards of passenger treatment. Airlines run much more fuel efficient jets and the fuel price is much lower than the 80's but they still seem to lose money most of the time......................
Pilots always think they are underpaid and their T&C are awful - but it's one of the few industries were some people actually PAY (or work for nothing) their employers to build up experience (in the legal profession this went out around 1970)
I just see constant pressure on costs - from shareholders, banks etc and that means a change in the business model - go onto the Fragrant Harbour thread and read how the CX guys have had their T&C chipped away over the last 10-15 years and you'll get a flavour of what will happen at QF in the next 20.