Airline executives: idiots, or morons?

Today the New York Times asks, Will Airlines and Passengers Call a Truce?. They report that "in the space of 18 months, the concept of a plane ticket has been transformed from an all-inclusive purchase to a pay-as-you-go plan, turning the relationship between airlines and customers increasingly sour." Really, New York Times? Eighteen months? Did you try flying at all during the rest of the last decade? In general, it's a fairly shallow article, following the modern journalistic practice of quoting someone new every few paragraphs and being sure to include viewpoints from random customers as if they're experts.

But the quote that really struck me as brilliant was from the chief executive of Southwest, Gary C. Kelly: "You can decide whether to take care of people and treat customers like guests in your home." I find that I'd really like Mr. Kelly to come and be a guest in my home, so that I can tell him that I've decided he's too fat to sit in my living room unless he buys another chair.