Originally Posted by tallpilot

Let's try to unpack that.

The good:

It's cheaper on an inflation adjusted basis (sometimes it's even nominally cheaper)

The number of city pairs has exploded such that it is certainly the fastest and most efficient method of travel between most places in the CONUS.

The bad:

TSA (maybe they keep us safe from bombs, hard to disprove a counterfactual) but they make the airport experience miserable and continually introduce arbitrary and capricious rules

Airports are absurdly crowded and so uncomfortable people pay extra money to access an oasis inside them

Seat pitch has been reduced to a level of uncomfort that most people pay extra to sit in seats that are slightly less terrible

Seat comfort would matter less if load factors were lower but management has grown very adept at keeping seats filled which leads to more uncomfort as 170 people try to share 2-3 toilets on 6 hour transcon.

Ancillary revenue (great for my 401k) but for the flying public it just means getting nickled and dimed. Literally everything costs extra or in the case of a basic economy fare isn't available at all.

So I would say except for cost, for the average member of the traveling public, the statement is true. If he had said that it has become less safe then that would have been something to fact check.