Originally Posted by B757200ER

I agree, the business model is poor. Fares are still too low, and don't adequately cover costs. Niche carriers like Spirit and Ryanair are ****ing off passengers with these stupid incidental charges, like for carryons, blankets and other stuff. AA and other majors need to raise their fares to cover costs---period, instead of employees taking pay/benefit cuts to subsidize low fares. In what other industry do employees take the hit to ensure low expenses for consumers???

One conclusion I can draw from this inability of AA and others to pass along higher costs to consumers in the form of ticket prices is this: There are still too many airlines, dumping cheap seats on a volatile market.