[OverRevLimiter]

The American consumer needs to rise up and complain in the millions to the DOT and the airline association that change fees of $200 is outragious. How do we get the message out to the consumer to write and overwhelm the American public with this rape of the consumer?

[The_Judge]

Stop buying tickets.

[OverRevLimiter]

I believe this is a consumer abuse issue. They have us by the short hair and it would take a major concerted effort of us to change this policy. Government intervention to limit fees is needed. Sure I will do my best to not use anyone except Southwest Airlines as their policy is most appropriate.

[Burgers]

I don't work for an airline but run a company and given the monetary scale of airlines, I think $200 is reasonable. Southwest Airlines recently changed their ticket policy that is also revenue positive for them as well.
If you advocate government intervention limiting their revenue streams be prepared to provide funds to help keep airlines solvent as they are over the long term hardly profitable ventures. Personally, I like free markets as free as possible.

[jimworcs]

There is no requirement to subsidise airlines if you increase regulation. The airlines abuse their local hub monopolies and there is more than a century of experience of regulating abuse of monopoly positions.

The airlines want it both ways. The demand and get anti-trust immunity to allow mega mergers and to secure monopoly positions in major markets but seek to resist the quid pro quo which is regulation of those markets. All companies seek to abuse their monopolies, it is normal corporate behaviour because companies exist to maximise revenue for their shareholders... providing customer satisfaction is only a by product of this. In properly functioning markets, they will not win the business if they don't provide a good service. However, the airlines have won anti-trust immunity and occupy local monopoly positions and the market does not work properly pricisely because they are inadequately regulated. We saw the result of this in banking and it was a disaster.

The power of the airlines in the US is extraordinary and the lack of regulators with real teeth is shocking. Only political action will change this. Judge suggests that you don't buy tickets... which in normal market conditions would work. In this distorted market, it simply won't work. If you live in Charlotte, NC and boycott US Airways, you will find you are spending far too much time in the Greyhound Bus Station waiting room.

One of the changes recently made in the UK in the financial services sector, which has a similar domination of the market by 4 very large banks, the regulator introduced a requirement that the charges levied by the banks must be based on actual costs of delivering the service and must be fair. This avoids the minefield of regulating prices, but prevents abusive gouging, which is what the change fee represents.

[azstar]

A solution would be to make nonrefundable/nonchangeable airline tickets nonrefundable and nonchangeable, similar to theatre tickets. If you don't use the ticket for the intended flight, you would have to purchase a new ticket. However, no one would be satisfied with that solution either.