Isn't this a backwards way of thinking. Well the airlines can't charge more so lets makes others pay?
How bout fixing the price structure of the airlines?
I agree, just because some pencil pusher at a desk says "ABC to DEF won't support a fare over $350" doesn't mean you can't charge more than $350.
You pass your fees along to your customers. That includes, fuel, taxes, fees, maintenance, pilot pay, CSR pay, ramp leases, pay for everyone else, the cost of your 1-888 number, your website fees, IT, etc. When you've got 100+ people in the back of your DC9, you can easily offset those costs for dollars per ticket. The guy that is sitting in his 750 with his three business partners is paying the whole bill.
There lies the problem. The airlines are so busy trying to see who can charge less that they've lost sight of the fact that to make a profit, it's a very simple formula: Revenue - Expense = Profit. If you charge $350 for a seat to go from A to B and the cost is $375, then your profit is ($25) per seat. If you turn it around and charge $400 and the cost is $375 then you just made $25 on each seat. You can make the numbers as large or as small as you like, the formula still works. If airlines lose customers because they're charging a correct price, they'll go out of business (eh...I guess they'll just go into chapter 11...again). Guess what...so will the ones that aren't charging enough. Eventually we'll be left with a handful of airlines that aren't concerned with undercutting each other anymore so they start charging the correct fee. I don't have a problem with a few (or even several) air carriers going out of business if it fixes this mess. The pilots will end up just fine at other jobs either airline or corporate, and as for management...they can take their multi-million dollar bonus, sit on it and twist.
...and what happens when so much GA is forced out of the sky by these user fees that the fees can no longer support the system? Guess who's going to end up getting the fees shoved on them. The airlines. ...and they'll have to support it themselves then.
-mini