Please ... we are our own worst enemy. That $80k won’t ever be used to pay keep a single pilot they don’t need to match demand. It’ll be used for debt service or to keep the lights on for a few more seconds. Or to justify stock buy-backs and executive compensation as soon as Uncle Sugar isn’t looking (or maybe proof of ‘belt-tightening’ to justify further government handouts). Or for bankruptcy and other attorneys to figure out how to shred contracts further to permanently lower labor costs during this unique time of management leverage.

Regardless, I don’t think it does anyone any good (except perhaps management in the very short term) for the industry to go back to the $misek and Discount Dougie days of incessant, petty cost cutting, which is what this reeks of. If your airline loses just 10-15 TPAC business class tickets sold to the likes of ANA, Cathay, etc because you don’t have toothpicks for your cocktails, you’ve eaten up all that savings (and probably much more with the brand impairment and future booking patterns factored in). And believe me the little stupid service things like a toothpick for your lime for your your G and T count for the folks who pay for a sizable portion of our wages (premium cabin close-in booked long-haul passengers) when Uncle Sugar isn’t paying us to all mimic Allegiant/Spirit in the most cost-inefficient ways possible.

We pilots fly planes. Managers manage occasionally. But in general I’d argue that cost cutting on the premium end destroys the product which in turn destroys competitiveness and leads to further erosions of the brand and the all-around conditions at the carrier.