Basic comes for air travel (or we’re all basic now)

Just as the so-called ultra-low-cost carriers (ULCCs), with their “unbundled” fares, started dying off (in the US, anyway), the network carriers have cribbed the fee-forward strategy, expanding basic fares from back to front of the plane and building a customer-facing ladder of, well, fees in each cabin. This in addition to their complex algorithm-driven pricing that might soon deliver AI-maximized custom fares based on our social media, search histories, travel patterns, spending, etc.

United is first to “innovate” by degrading not only the cheapest fares on the plane (where basic economy on mainline’s upgauged planes challenged the low-cost spill-carrier model), but the cheapest in premium cabins as well. Want international lie-flat Polaris with domestic lounge access and assigned seating? Congrats, you’re basic! (That’s Scott Kirby, not me.) Want the same product as yesterday tomorrow? Be prepared to pay more.

I’m surprised United beat Delta to the punch with this; the Atlanta-based carrier rolled out Basic Comfort+, where a middle-seat with a few inches’ extra leg room feels a downgrade from a window or aisle.

Silly me, Delta is an aspirational lifestyle brand; “someday,” we think, in the cramped D1 763 cabin, “enjoying” catering we charitably call domestic.