3 ms·

Insofar as preference depend on nudges/framing -- that is, insofar as preferences aren't even uniquely defined -- then you need to actually test the various nud

Insofar as preference depend on nudges/framing -- that is, insofar as preferences aren't even uniquely defined -- then you need to actually test the various nudge. The airlines already have the ability to "nudge" and "frame"; the big three legacy carriers in the US all have flight-search interfaces which show you the different types of fares and highlight the conveniences that come with them. People still just pick whichever one is cheapest and then complain about how awful it is. Two of the three big legacies have, as I noted, already begun the rollout of ultra-bare-bones no-conveniences fares for this very reason: they have the data and they know what works. I think everything else you've written is also consistent with my primary claim, which is that we should not legislate seat sizes. I appreciate the other info, though. I think we are at or near the point where seat pitch and size will need to be legislated, not for comfort but for safety. As I understand it, many safety tests (such as verifying emergency evacuation within a required minimum time) on airliners are already conducted using cabin arrangements with significantly higher pitch than is typical for actual aircraft in service. And as seat pitch decreases various flying-induced medical conditions either become more likely or are exacerbated. And when something is affecting safety, I will absolutely support legislation to deal with that.

jessriedel 11y ago
From your first point ("show you the different types of fares and highlight the conveniences that come with them"), it's clear that you don't understand what I'm proposing. Your second point about safety is a completely separate issue.
- ubernostrum 11y ago
  American, Delta and United are all up-front during the flight search process about what type of seat you're getting. Either you are booking regular economy (awful), or extra-legroom economy ("Main Cabin Extra" on AA, "Comfort+" on DL, "Economy Plus" on UA), or first/business class. Delta is also up-front about when you're booking its "Basic Economy" fare type, which has extra fees for basically everything other than walking through the door of the plane. AA, when it rolls out its version, will almost certainly do the same. And once again the reason why those "basic" fares are coming into existence is the tried and tested knowledge of the airlines on what matters to most of the people buying airline tickets: price, only price and nothing but price. They're not dumb; in fact, some very smart people are doing the behind-the-scenes work of deciding what fare classes to sell, how many seats in each fare class to sell, etc., and they have access to mountains of data on customer behavior to guide them. For a more HN-friendly analogy, treat having a disaggregated ultra-basic fare among the five cheapest for the route as being in the top five results on Google for a search term. It simply does not matter what else anyone does: the low fare and the high Google search-result position are going to overwhelmingly win.

jessriedel 11y ago

From your first point ("show you the different types of fares and highlight the conveniences that come with them"), it's clear that you don't understand what I'm proposing. Your second point about safety is a completely separate issue.

ubernostrum 11y ago
American, Delta and United are all up-front during the flight search process about what type of seat you're getting. Either you are booking regular economy (awful), or extra-legroom economy ("Main Cabin Extra" on AA, "Comfort+" on DL, "Economy Plus" on UA), or first/business class. Delta is also up-front about when you're booking its "Basic Economy" fare type, which has extra fees for basically everything other than walking through the door of the plane. AA, when it rolls out its version, will almost certainly do the same. And once again the reason why those "basic" fares are coming into existence is the tried and tested knowledge of the airlines on what matters to most of the people buying airline tickets: price, only price and nothing but price. They're not dumb; in fact, some very smart people are doing the behind-the-scenes work of deciding what fare classes to sell, how many seats in each fare class to sell, etc., and they have access to mountains of data on customer behavior to guide them. For a more HN-friendly analogy, treat having a disaggregated ultra-basic fare among the five cheapest for the route as being in the top five results on Google for a search term. It simply does not matter what else anyone does: the low fare and the high Google search-result position are going to overwhelmingly win.