20driver writes:
As Elizabeth Taylor once said, "If someone is stupid enough to offer me a million dollars to make a movie, I am not stupid enough to say no."
If low fares are on offer, passengers will take them. It may surprise some as here but airlines are not in business to provide (high paying) jobs to employees. They are in business to make money. (something very few do)
Spot on.
We've seen the shift in priority due to deregulation - carriers were once very interested in differentiating themselves on several levels. Pay and prestige to attract the best employees, which they relied upon to create the best customer experience.
Then, having those customers create sales through hearty personal endorsements.
Now we have a market driven by the lowest common denominator - the idiot who is willing to be treated like livestock to save a few bucks.
Troubling is the fact that one only needs to read the news to realize that many of the buffoons clogging airports don't have any business being in public.
Something which has been mentioned in many threads here is the "ever-declining ability and trustworthyness" of airline pilots. (Don't go searching for that exact quote, it's a synthetic of many posts. And don't go flaming until you read all of this post.)
One thing I'd like to mention from my point of view - I am usually in F - is that the quality of pax has been declining as well. We always had the odd college student heading for spring break or the squalling baby. But now there are just so many f*cking idiots and cretins waiting to show the very worst behavior.
My thoughts are with the AA folks, I hope things work out for the best for you.
RR