Likely a combination of both things. If airline management can improve these metrics for less than the cost of the fines then they’ll do it. Ultimately if tick

Likely a combination of both things. If airline management can improve these metrics for less than the cost of the fines then they’ll do it. Ultimately if ticket prices go up because that’s the cost of having a somewhat reliable service that actually delivers on its promise I would not say it’s a bad thing. It makes the playing field even such that airlines can’t get away with undercutting service quality to compete on price.