We've all had bad experiences with airlines but in the past few months I've noticed *far* more horror stories from friends about United. That was before I saw this story and the many comments. It's a dismal situation and I wonder what, if anything can fix it. United summarily canceled by 100K or so accumulated miles years ago because they "expired" so I haven't flown them in over a decade. I think this is another example of where letting capitalists/stock price dictate everything the end result is some well fed lawyers and accountants walking away from a hollowed out remains of a real organization. As the author points out SouthWest, Virgin, JetBlue and a daresay even Air France do a pretty good job of understanding that they are there to provide a service.