http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/short-take-new-frontiers-in-airborne-class-warfare/article_1f72b7af-841d-582a-9574-1fd07797a719.html
They call it "calculated misery" and it's the term for how airlines continually make air travel miserable so that you will shell out more money for better amenities. Like food and water. Or the ability to extend your legs on a four hour flight. Or being on time.
Airline deregulation has been a textbook example of why we should deregulate. Regulations protected monopolies and created perverse pricing systems. Once we deregulated, the innovation of the market took over.
Except the market is son of a bitch and doesn't give a shit about human beings or their needs.
I hate air travel. As a kid, it was one of the more exciting experiences you could have. It was special. Today it is a bus with wings.
We are still recovering from our 16 hour drive home from Georgia, but we got to stop when we wanted to, we got our dogs to come along, we slept in a decent motel, we got to listen to the Bloggess' new book. It was tiring, but - except for some poor conditions on the Saw Mill Parkway - was not stressful.
I'm going to fly to the AP reading this year, because I probably have to. But flying remains more misery than calculation.
Welcome to the "market society."
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