3 ms·

So, at this point what does it take? Before you fly, do you need to go to a federal court and get an order to be allowed to board and take your flight, and brin

So, at this point what does it take? Before you fly, do you need to go to a federal court and get an order to be allowed to board and take your flight, and bring a couple US Marshals to the gate with you for enforcement? Would air crew still insist that they possess an absolute authority taking precedence over it? Could the pilot be arrested and dragged off for contempt? When people defend airline crew making up policies on the spur of the moment with "well, you have to comply, nothing bad happens until you don't comply", do they think about the extremes they're going to push people to sooner or later? Or does this kind of stuff just not enter their minds?

metaphorm 10y ago
they have adopted a fully authoritarian mentality because they have been given arbitrary authority with zero accountability. this is the Stanfrod Prison Experiment except in real life and in a crucial service industry. we're fucked.
- Jare 10y ago
  This is exactly what is happening, very good observation.
- lokedhs 10y ago
  The US airline industry seems remarkably similar to the US ISP industry. In both cases there is no real competition, and new competitors are legally prevented from entering the market. As a result the US are terrible in both categories by international standards.
  - metaphorm 10y ago
    there's a big difference between "terrible business" (as the ISPs are) and "creeping towards totalitarianism" (as the airlines are). I wouldn't use this as a case for market deregulation or whatever it is you imagine might improve things. This is really fundamentally a cultural issue and not an economic one. The problem isn't that United Airlines has insufficient competition (probably true). The problem is that United staff and airport security staff are given inappropriate amounts of power with no checks and balances when things get out of hand and that our society has become so deranged and paranoiac that we let them get away with it.

metaphorm 10y ago

they have adopted a fully authoritarian mentality because they have been given arbitrary authority with zero accountability. this is the Stanfrod Prison Experiment except in real life and in a crucial service industry. we're fucked.

Jare 10y ago
This is exactly what is happening, very good observation.
lokedhs 10y ago
The US airline industry seems remarkably similar to the US ISP industry. In both cases there is no real competition, and new competitors are legally prevented from entering the market. As a result the US are terrible in both categories by international standards.
- metaphorm 10y ago
  there's a big difference between "terrible business" (as the ISPs are) and "creeping towards totalitarianism" (as the airlines are). I wouldn't use this as a case for market deregulation or whatever it is you imagine might improve things. This is really fundamentally a cultural issue and not an economic one. The problem isn't that United Airlines has insufficient competition (probably true). The problem is that United staff and airport security staff are given inappropriate amounts of power with no checks and balances when things get out of hand and that our society has become so deranged and paranoiac that we let them get away with it.