One, there isn’t. One party undercutting another for the same product is how competition generates consumer surplus.
Two, it isn’t the same product. When I fly with my family, we check in together. We board together. I collect their docs on my phone and double check they have them on theirs. I turn down upgrades so I can sit with them. If there is a change, it takes one customer service agent maybe 10% longer to adjust everyone in bulk. I’m not incurring 4 or 5x the cost on the airline for 4 to 5x the revenue, this is why bulk discounting exists for everything.
This isn’t an ethical problem. If it’s triggering an ethical system, that’s more damning for the system than for Delta. This is a communication and brand problem.
There's an even bigger fairness issue when there's such a huge data knowledge gap between the parties, both knowing that there is this hidden price structure as well as knowing a ton about you. So there's privacy implications too.
Edit: it's not undercutting. It's price discrimination. You know the thing people fucking hate when trying to buy a car. Half the reason people liked buying Tesla is cause the price is the price is the price.
Is it fair to charge people with different sized families different prices (per unit) for toilet paper?
vs.
Is it fair to charge people different prices (per unit) for different sized packages of toilet paper?
The former makes it seem nefarious but the latter is commonly accepted as fair. Same for airline tickets - if there's a discount for buying in bulk that's just as fair as a discount for buying toilet paper in bulk.
Transparent pricing worked as a positive differentiator for cars. (Saturn. Tesla.)
I believe airlines have tried their hand at it. But it doesn’t budge the needle. If there is a single enduring truth to at least American airline demand, it’s that most consumers will pick the cheapest ticket. Almost nothing else matters, when it comes time to pay for it, to almost all of the flying public.
Perhaps that's because all the U.S. airlines have engaged in such a race to the bottom on quality that there's no other distinguishing factor. I'd happily pay more for a more pleasant experience, but no one offers it.
