There was Midwest Express. All seats were leather, business class, and they baked fresh cookies on every flight. Flew them more than once, it was the best US airline experience I ever had. Was priced the same a non-discounted coach fare on a normal airline.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-11-08/travel/9811080...

Sadly, they were merged into Frontier in 2011.

There's a valid reason for "jacking up the fares" when the flight is almost sold out -- airline seats are a limited commodify so demand pricing ensures that the customer that really needs to get somewhere can find a seat, even if he has to pay more for it.

When I had to fly cross-country due to a parent's sudden serious hospitalization, I paid an arm and a leg to book a fare for a same day departure, but I sure am glad I had that option, I'd rather pay $1300 when I really need to be somewhere than having no options at all because all of the seats sold out at $400.

Why does "I have more money" automatically correlate with "really needs to get somewhere"? What if, in your example, you didn't have $1300 to spend, but could have afforded a $400 ticket? Do we, collectively as customers, really want to say "too bad, if you're poor you don't get to have your needs fulfilled in emergencies"?

People won't book a flight -- especially on short notice -- just because it's cheap. They book because they actually want to go somewhere. Sure, there are people who occasionally want to make a trip on a whim, and a higher price is a disincentive and deterrent to making that decision last-minute... but it doesn't automatically follow that low prices mean that they'll always be snatched up and there won't be available tickets for people who "need" one more.

Because cash, for better or worse, is how our society determines "need". It's by no means perfect since the wealthy have an advantage but what's the other option? A panel analysts to review who really "needs" that seat?

Demand pricing (plus full fare flexible tickets and first/business class) is what helps less affluent people being able to afford a ticket at all. So instead of everyone having to pay a flat $600 for a seat, people with flexible travel dates can buy early and pay $300. They'll lose some amenities (like legroom, food, "free" baggage, etc), but for some people, that can make the difference between being able to afford a ticket at all or not.

If the plane is so full that the airline can triple the price over what they cost 2 weeks ago, it's likely that there would have been no seats at any price when I wanted one if they kept prices steady at $400.

I'm by no means wealthy and $1300 was painful, yet still I was thankful that I could get a seat at all for a very time sensitive trip.

Because there's no reason to believe a $400 ticket would be available for purchase.

> As someone who actually flies, the existing system works amazingly well, and delivers a service at a surprisingly low cost.

Are they really low cost? And having worked abroad recently, it's shocking how much cheaper European flights can be compared to U.S. flights. And maybe my memory's off, but it seems like domestic flight costs were much lower just 5-10 years ago. In college, I could get a round trip ticket to Las Vegas for under $100, and checking right now, the lowest price is $296.

They're historically low cost, yes. That said, they're more expensive than they were in, say, 2000, when fuel costs fell through the floor.

Budget European carriers that fly to airports you've never heard of are another story entirely.

You can get a round trip ticket from SF to Vegas for $57 if you leave May 13 and come back on the 17th or the 23rd. There are a lot of flights under $100 if you book 4-6 weeks ahead of time.

> Personally, I just wish some airline would test "the market" for a premium level of services (few more inches of elbow room is "premium", apparently) that doesn't cost 5x the money for 10% more space.

puts tin foil hat on. I wonder if the fear is that if they improve economy with more leg and arm room and charge a little more, they will lose first class customers to the better accommodations. Essentially the intentionally make economy a bad experience so that people upgrade to first class which is multiple times more expensive.

This has to be the reason. It seems like it would be a no brainer to offer a premium service UNLESS it cannibalized their VASTLY more expensive premium services. No business is going to pay 5x for all of their employees' tickets when a reasonable option exists for only 50% more, and it might hurt frequent flier programs because people are less concerned with competing for status when you can just buy a premium seat from anyone for a reasonable cost.

If it was just about the extra space over a normal coach seat, the premium would only be 10-20% for a much larger seat.