Ryanair talks a lot, but they mostly do it for the free PR they inevitably get when people act shocked. Almost all of their proposal are unfeasible or downright illegal and all of them should be considered bullshit until proven otherwise.

When I was young there was a discount airline named People Express that actually operated like this. In retrospect I imagine a lot of their nickel & diming would be considered standard these days, but back then it was revolutionary in both good & bad ways.

You’re way late to that party, Ryanair used to charge crew for water.

Spirit Airlines does not give free water. They will give you a cup of ice if you ask.

I did, in fact, manage to read all three. I just couldn't help but run with the devil's advocate premise.

I'd pay $99 so that the person in front of me *can't* recline their seat

I’ve always wondered if it would be cheaper to just have everyone check their bags and eliminate the overhead bin. I wouldn’t be surprised if airline boarding was sped up by 2-3x this way.

> Speaking of which, did you know the TSA screening area is a farce?

My man, the TSA is a jobs program disguised as security theater. It's also a funnel for money into contractors' pockets (see: Leidos).

I have no issue with airlines offering reserved seats for money. Let people buy their aisle seats and window seats and exit rows.

Most people don't give a shit where they sit, so most seats are not reserved. Traditionally, airlines tried to just put people close together when they booked together. When we check in, we just get random seats that are close together. That's okay. I'm fine with taking whatever seats no-one else wants.

If I understand United marketing correctly, they will actively sit you apart from others in your group unless you buy an upgrade. That is, instead of assigning you some of the free spots close together, you get put as far apart as possible, and they hope that you will buy an upgrade to sit close together.

Other airlines don't do that.

I don’t have any data to back this up, but I think window and aisle seats being more valuable doesn’t necessarily mean they can be sold for more.

I am very tall and I always pay for a seat with extra legroom in economy. Whenever I’m picking my seat early, almost every seat in economy is available. People could pay to reserve a window or aisle seat, but anecdotally it seems like almost no one does this. Everyone I know just tries to check in as early as possible so they can grab a good seat before they’re all taken.

I don’t think airlines are actually losing any money by seating families together. It’s not like all those window and aisle seats would have been paid for otherwise.

An aside or window seat next to an unaccompanied toddler is worth considerably less.

If you're sitting together, that means at least one person is in the less-desirable middle seat, right?

Evil can be small and banal. Intentionally creating a negative outcome (algorithmically distance families) and charging people to escape it (preferred seating fees) certainly rhymes with a protection racket. It's purely the bad kind of capitalism, where instead of charging people for value you've created, you create new problems that only you can be paid to solve.

Can you elaborate on the Kubernetes bit

[dead]

You are suddenly shaken awake from your restless, fractured sleep. A woman with a look of bright concern implores "Sir your son is watching porn!" "Huh?" She gestures to your right towards the 11 year old boy seated there. "That's not my son"

Consider twins. My understanding is that a parent may only have one infant in their arms, the other infant needs a seat.

Nevertheless, a parent may choose to book a seat for their infant to give themselves extra space. If the airline puts that seat in a different row, it defeats the purpose.

Even though I’ve flown a dozen or more airlines in my life, I actually felt true loyalty towards Southwest because of their amazing no fee policies. And it was worth playing the “check in quickly cuz there’s no assigned seats” game for all the other benefits. And we’ve flown so many flights as a family due to that. It removed all the stress from the ticket purchasing process.

This CEO is a freaking idiot. Is this an excel jockey/MBA a-hole like the kind that ran Boeing and Intel into the ground?

What’s wrong with the board that voted this idiot in?

I see they offer free cancellations and refunds for their two top-tier tickets, but can't find a reference for them offering it for all tickets. Do you have a link?

https://mobile.southwest.com/fare-information/

I think this one is required federally because every US airline allows this that I’ve flown.

It will typically be in the form of a credit but United, for example, does allow cancellations (not sure how far in advance) for no charge.

I think charging a fee for passenger cancellation insurance is reasonable; the airline takes on a decent amount of risk if a consumer can cancel at any time.

Then don't whine when you're sitting next to a 3 year old that has all the same justifications you do for sitting there. I don't appreciate social pressure to make your flight as comfortable as possible at my financial inconvenience.

In all seriousness I understand your point but I think it's worth considering that you're also applying social pressure.

The airline asks the age of each minor traveler when tickets are booked. The airline could perfectly well require that a kid be seated next to a caretaker. (Regardless of whether they impose an extra charge for that.)

Your gripe here is with the airline.

I believe every airline should offer a basic service: when minors are traveling with an adult, they should automatically be seated together. Ideally, airlines should provide a designated family seating area to avoid situations where a child ends up sitting next to a stranger.

> Not particularly, no. What I want is for you to purchase the seats your family needs ahead of time, not ask me for them for free.

What happened to "if you want it, then you have to pay for the privilege?" If you want to be sure you aren't next to a kid, just pay for a first class ticket, instead of making other people pay extra for your comfort. You knew your preferences when you bought the ticket, after all. Select the seat you find necessary. /s

The point being that the status quo rolls dice that make everyone unhappy, and there are options for everyone to avoid it by paying extra. Those options are priced by the people creating the situation in order to make a maximally profitable 'pay to avoid this' scenario. I always pay for my family to get together, but blame the airline for making you uncomfortable, not the family.

I’ve definitely selected adjacent seats in the past, then ended up separated the day of the flight. Even if it’s a couple, it’s probably the airline’s fault.

I solved the problem by preferring southwest, but their new CEO is an a*hole, and instead of raising ticket prices $50 a seat is adding assigned seating, removing legroom, charging for bags, adding ticket change fees, etc, etc.

Indeed, having children should have tiny nickel and dime costs all throughout your life in a million different ways. It should be the norm that just trying to raise the next generation costs you time, energy, effort, and money just to do normal day to day things, and it should especially be harder for you because you dared to have children.

Wait, why is nobody having kids?

Some of us are just trying to survive financially or couldn't care less what you think.

Tough luck then buddy. Have fun with the kids.

There has to be some kind of middle ground here, imo. Nobody wants to sit next to kids. Families don't want to be penalized financially anymore than they already are for providing a benefit to society. We don't need to further disincentivize families and further our declining birth rates. At the same time it's wildly unfair to ask people to switch seats when they've paid for them (or even if they haven't).

Have you never seen a confrontation erupt from this? Or a flight attendant "suggesting" the person being asked to move?

And I'll smile back knowing you're about to have a really great flight with my 3 year old :)

(to be clear, I don't do this personally and pay extra to sit together but I do hope people start parking their kids all over the plane since that's what we all seem to want! It's tempting.)