I disagree. I think that there are probably no more than 5 kids flying by themselves on any given flight. I'm not even expecting a 1:1 ratio - I expect that for those 5 kids, there is maybe 1 person in charge of them. Those 5 kids are generating $750 in revenue. The expense for a chaperon is whatever a seat costs, plus that employee's expenses. I'm going to guess that they make a profit on the service (not to mention I'm doubting there is a special "kid rate" for a seat).
Now the problem comes when they start cutting costs. The flight attendant, who used to probably be a well paid, skilled employee who was serving 50 seats is probably a paid less, shorter term employee now serving 75 seats.
And instead of having a dedicated chaperon, it's probably now just one of those flight attendants.
That they can't deliver for the price they charge doesn't mean the price is wrong. If you buy a car and drive it off the lot and the wheels fall off, you don't say "well, I guess they should have charged me more."
Granted, there is a "too good to be true" factor, but I don't think that $150 to make sure that a kid makes their connection and picks up the baggage is more than enough. Honestly, I'd expect that as part of the ticket price.
I don't know how chaperone services work, to be honest, but if I were paying for it, I'd want the chaperone around in the airport, not on the plane itself. A kid can wander off and get lost, or get kidnapped, or hurt themselves at an airport, they're not exactly going to get off the airplane halfway through the flight.
> If you buy a car and drive it off the lot and the wheels fall off, you don't say "well, I guess they should have charged me more."
But the company should say, "We should have spent more money building this car, and thereafter charged more for it."
Now the problem comes when they start cutting costs. The flight attendant, who used to probably be a well paid, skilled employee who was serving 50 seats is probably a paid less, shorter term employee now serving 75 seats.
And instead of having a dedicated chaperon, it's probably now just one of those flight attendants.
That they can't deliver for the price they charge doesn't mean the price is wrong. If you buy a car and drive it off the lot and the wheels fall off, you don't say "well, I guess they should have charged me more."
Granted, there is a "too good to be true" factor, but I don't think that $150 to make sure that a kid makes their connection and picks up the baggage is more than enough. Honestly, I'd expect that as part of the ticket price.