For starters, I never viewed pax trips as free rides and never took mine for granted. They were
normally given to those that had, for some reason or another, earned them. Lumpy jumpers? Well you could say they......!!
But Stickmonkeytamer has it spot on. It gave an albeit small number of groundhuggers the chance to understand what operating a fast jet really entailed. It helped me as an air trafficker understand their operating issues and, I think, made me a better operator for it. Indeed, I think a few current aircrew got their taste for flying as a result of such pax trips. Even in these times of ever-decreasing budgets, I believe pax trips are still good value - where appropriate.
WJMcP