If there’s one thing people want when it comes to air travel, it’s ... well, it’s to get where they’re going, safely and on time. But if there’s a second thing people want when it comes to air travel, it’s for airline companies to at least pretend like they care about their passengers as human beings and not herded cattle. In fact, for an industry seemingly predicated on consistency, the only reliable thing about most airlines is that they will screw you over in service of their bottom line without batting an eyelash, every single time. Because, ultimately, they can.
Take, for instance, the whiplash-inducing about-face spurred by a federal judge’s decision this week to nix the CDC’s mask mandate on planes and other forms of public transportation. Not only were travelers rope-a-doped into buying tickets under the assumption of one level of safety, only to find themselves stuck, mid-flight, as flight crews gleefully encouraged passengers to unmask, but now thousands of passengers formerly under a permanent ban for breaking the once-ironclad masking rules are being welcomed back with open arms — in exchange for their open wallets.
