Perhaps this day will be known as a reckoning. Maybe even a humbling.
Even - ambitiously, optimistically - a good deed.
No matter how you view it, United Airlines' decision to permanently eliminate the dreaded change fee was a stroke of public relations brilliance.
Especially coming from a company that, just seven weeks ago, defended itself for booking middle seats again during this coronavirus pandemic by throwing its fellow airlines under the bus and calling the decision to block middle seats "a PR strategy."
In addition, United announced it will also allow customers who want to depart earlier or later the same day to fly standby without paying a $75 same-day change fee.
Look, there are all kinds of motives behind decisions - some genuine, some not so much - and this could be a gamble in the long run. If things ever get back to normal in an industry that has been rocked by so little demand for travel that it is still 75 percent off the capacity it had at this time last year, it could be a disaster.
In the last decade, a gloriously successful financial decade, airlines were laughing all the way to the bank with wheelbarrows full of cash from ancillary fees. Seat selection. Charges for anything more than one checked bag. Bags that weigh over 50 pounds. And, of course, the $200 fee to change a ticket.
It was profitable. To the tune of $2.8 billion last year alone in just ticket and cancellation fees for U.S. airlines, according to the Department of Transportation.
Or this move could do for United what it was intended to do, now and in the future.
Drive sales.
"Following previous tough times, airlines made difficult decisions to survive, sometimes at the expense of customer service," United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement. "United Airlines won't be following that same playbook as we come out of this crisis. Instead, we're taking a completely different approach - and looking at new ways to serve our customers better."
It's classic public relations. This decision allows United to solidify current customer loyalty, build a base of new customers and change reputations.
Remember, this is the airline that, three short years ago, bloodied a doctor by physically dragging him off a plane when he was randomly chosen to be involuntarily bumped from a flight. Talk about the flip side of public relations - it was a disaster.
Now, this can be a game-changer for United. And the industry. In fact, start setting the clock now. The countdown is on until other domestic carriers follow suit with a decision to eliminate change fees for good.
So perhaps we shouldn't question the sincerity of the move and just accept it for what it is - a rare piece of good news for airline travelers that could pay dividends for all involved for decades.
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