I am boycotting United Airlines. Not because they pummeled a passenger for being unwilling to be "re-accommodated," but because flying in general is a miserable experience and United is the worst of the worst. Denver is 650 miles away. You can say I have no choice but United when flying from FSD to DEN, which is true, but I have a choice besides flying. I would rather spend all day driving across scenic Nebraska than subject myself to being stuck in a tube and flung across the sky.
Fortunately, as of yesterday, I am unemployed and won't have to fly to one of the coasts anytime soon.
I've always had two rules about investing. Never buy auto companies, and never buy airlines. United's stock got pummeled like an elderly doctor after the incident. It probably will recover in the short term, but in the long term an airline stock is just too volatile for anyone but speculators.
Final takeaway: In my 30 years of business travel, I noticed that hotels got a lot better and airlines got a lot worse. Why is that? Hotels started feeding customers and airlines stopped, but that's just a small part of it. I usually enjoy staying in hotels, the Embassy Suites in San Diego being a rare exception, but flying is a descent into hell. I haven't even mentioned the power-mad pervs at TSA. I don't know what the global solution is, but for me the solution is to avoid airports as much as possible.
