When Airlines Stopped Caring: How Flying Became a Class System

 UPDATE – January 2026

Since publishing this article, WestJet has announced it is reversing its decision to reduce legroom and install non-reclinable economy seats on some aircraft, following widespread public backlash. Viral videos and passenger complaints highlighted just how uncomfortable and degrading the new layout felt for many travelers.

WestJet has now confirmed it will remove the extra row of seats and return to a more standard configuration. While this does not solve the larger problem of shrinking airline comfort, it proves that public pressure still matters. Passengers are not cargo. We are human beings with bodies, health needs, and dignity — and airlines ignore that at their own reputational risk.

This reversal does not erase the trend of squeezing travelers for profit, but it does show that silence is not the only option.

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When Airlines Stopped Caring: How Flying Became a Class System

There was a time when airlines actually cared about passengers.

Flying felt human.
You bought a ticket, you got a seat, your bag came with you, and dignity wasn’t an add-on.

Now? Flying has become a scam dressed up as “choice.”

Want to keep your laptop safe?
Carry-on now costs extra.

Afraid your luggage will be lost — again?
Pay more.

Want to sit next to the person you’re traveling with?
Pay more.

Want to avoid being shoved into a middle seat at the back of the plane, knees jammed into your chest, unable to recline because the seats are zip-tied upright?
Pay more.

What airlines call “basic fares” are really punishment fares.

If you’re poor or budget-conscious, you don’t just get fewer perks — you get treated like you don’t matter.

This isn’t about luxury.
It’s about function, safety, and dignity.

Most people carry laptops, medication, cameras, or personal items they cannot afford to lose. Charging extra just to keep essential belongings with you isn’t a service — it’s a shakedown.

Airlines have figured out how to take one ticket and break it into ten separate fees, then blame passengers for wanting basic decency.

They say:

“You can choose a cheaper ticket.”

What they really mean is:

“You can choose discomfort, anxiety, and risk.”

This is classism in the sky.

If you have money, you glide through airports with legroom, overhead space, priority boarding, edible food, and calm.

If you don’t, you are herded, charged, shamed, and crammed — seat by seat.

Flying used to connect people.
Now it sorts them.

And the worst part? We’re told this is normal. Efficient. “Just how the market works.”

No.

This is what happens when empathy is stripped out of a system and replaced with profit extraction.

Airlines didn’t just shrink seats.
They shrank humanity.

Flying shouldn’t feel like a reminder of where you rank in society.