Airline business is never profitable imho, except if you're running it like Spirit, or AirAsia does. Charge a fee for every nitty gritty stuff that your consumer wants. Extra 10kg? That's $50 for you Sir.
I don't mind that as long as the potential fees are made clear before purchase. That way I can decide what my needs will be and determine if I can navigate that fare structure to minimize my costs. If it were up to me, all passengers and their bags would stand on a scale at check-in and a fee assessed based on total mass. That said, United almost always has the cheapest fare in my city (a hub -- although I think they've become much more expensive since the merger), and I get free checked bags with the Chase card and a solid rewards program.
joonix|13 years ago