Unfriendly Skies - My serenity temporarily leaves me and I rant.

The American airline industry is evil, mismanaged, thieving and far behind the rest of the world in terms of product and service. They have gone to the US government repeatedly for bailouts (Delta has received billions and is still going bankrupt) and they consistently get worse.

The latest examples:

-American Airlines removing pillows from flights.

-As of March 1st airlines are now charging cash as well as miles to upgrade to Business or First Class. Yesterday Continental told me it would cost me 50,000 miles AND $700 to upgrade for my RT to China.

-The airlines are on the verge of making it industry standard to pass on the cost of charging your flight on a credit card to the consumer (2-4% of the total cost).

Only American carriers will have these rules. So what happens? People will start flying foreign carriers more often and the airlines will go to the government and cry that they can't compete and ask for Billions more in corporate welfae. Food stamps for poor mothers? No way. Billions for a mismanaged industry, sure, why not.

What a joke.