> Improvements in leg room, amenities, services, infrastructure, etc, are a form of capital return to customers.
And bailouts are a form of wealth redistribution from people of modest means to wealthy executives and investors who, it turns out, are actually not willing to shoulder the risk associated with passive profits.
> That's not to say the airlines don't care about the little guy.
They actually like the little guy, you can fit more of them on a plane.