If this came out 10 years ago, I'd think this was great satire.
I don't know, man. PSA had "midnight" fares in the late 70s/early 80s where people were paying modern ULCC prices and openly passing that sticky icky around the back of the 727s between SFO and LAX (I have heard from more than once source that sometimes the younger F/As would sneak in a hit or two on empty flights!) and PeopleExpress had "Flying Cheaper Than Driving" as their slogan during their boom years assuring pax the cost per mile was less than driving the route. Very cheap fares have come and gone with the economy over the decades but only now are the people paying those fares getting out of control with any regularity. Has to be societal and unrelated to flying. I'm curious what other industries are now often dealing with out of control customers in record numbers post-2020.