Re:United Airlines bans AI agents from booking flights on be...
by dingaling on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @05:38PM
(#50459807)
"What if the airlines instead focused on delivering great service at a competitive price?"
Germania tried that in the late 90s, offering a flat fare for every seat.
They had to roll it back within a few weeks because their bookings dropped unsustainably - nobody wanted to pay a fair price for a seat, even if it was cheaper than they might have had to pay under dynamic pricing. All that potential customers fixated on was that the flat fares were more expensive than a few limited cheap seats on rival airlines.
The market can remain irrational linger than you can remain solvent etc etc
Germania tried that in the late 90s, offering a flat fare for every seat.
They had to roll it back within a few weeks because their bookings dropped unsustainably - nobody wanted to pay a fair price for a seat, even if it was cheaper than they might have had to pay under dynamic pricing. All that potential customers fixated on was that the flat fares were more expensive than a few limited cheap seats on rival airlines.
The market can remain irrational linger than you can remain solvent etc etc